CV - Ming Hsieh Institute - University of Southern California

FIROOZ AFLATOUNI
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND SYSTEM ENGINEERING
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
Address: 200 S. 33rd Street, 203B Moore Building, Philadelphia, PA 19104
Email: [email protected]
FIELD OF SPECIALIZATION
Integrated RF, mm-wave, and opto-electronic systems and silicon photonics.
EDUCATION
Ph.D., Electrical Engineering, University of Southern California
Thesis Topic: Electronically assisted relative and absolute phase control of semiconductor lasers.
2011
M.Sc., Electrical Engineering, University of Southern California
2005
B.Sc., Electrical Engineering, K.N.T University of Technology, Tehran, Iran
Thesis Topic: Two-degree-of-freedom non-geostationary satellite tracking systems.
1998
ACADEMIC POSITIONS
Skirkanich Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical and System Engineering, University of
Pennsylvania
Jan. 2014 - present
Postdoctoral Scholar, Department of Electrical Engineering, California Institute of Technology
(Supervisor: Prof. Ali Hajimiri)
Oct. 2011 - Dec. 2013
Responsible for development of Integrated Circuits for THz, Opto-Electronics, Imaging, and Phased
Array systems. Responsible for advising Ph.D. students and supporting Dr. Hajimiri on his research
projects. List of projects include:
 Integrated source independent laser linewidth reduction systems – Electro-optical feed-forward
scheme is used to significantly reduce the linewidth of a laser. All photonic components within the
system are integrated in the IME silicon-on-insulator process and the RF circuits are integrated in a
standard 65nm CMOS process.
 Integrated THz beam-steering array – A THz beam is formed by radiating the beat note of two lasers
using an integrated array of THz antennas. All photonic components and the array of THz antennas
are integrated in the IME silicon-on-insulator process.
 Integrated low phase noise mm-wave opto-electronic oscillator – Benefiting from RF and analog
architectures and techniques, an integrated low noise opto-electronic oscillator in the mm-wave
regime is implemented. All photonic components within the system are integrated in the IME siliconon-insulator process.
 Integrated optical phased array – The phase and amplitude of individual elements of an optical array
are controlled using electronics. An optical beam is formed that is steered electronically. All photonic
components within the system are integrated in the IME silicon-on-insulator process.
 General phase noise theory of opto-electrical oscillators – Stochastic calculus is used to find the
general expression for phase noise of opto-electrical oscillators. The result shows the effect of the
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loop delay, device non-linearity, amplitude noise, and loss on the phase noise of the electrical
oscillation.
Research Assistant, Department of Electrical Engineering-Electrophysics, University of Southern
California
2005 - 2011
(Research advisor: Prof. Hossein Hashemi)
Ph.D. student funded by DARPA and NSF responsible for development of integrated RF, mm-wave, and
opto-electronic systems. List of projects include:
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Electrically assisted phase noise reduction of semiconductor lasers - Analysis of the feed-forward
linewidth reduction scheme for semiconductor lasers was developed and its accuracy was verified
with bench-top measurements. The measurement results show linewidth reduction from 7.5MHz to
1.8kHz for a commercially available DFB laser.
An electronically controlled laser phased array - Electronic feedback scheme based on a voltage
controlled oscillator is used to control the optical phase of individual semiconductor lasers locked to a
common reference laser using integrated electro-optical PLLs. By electronically controlling the phase
of each emitter, optical beam-steering is demonstrated.
A phase locked loop with GHz acquisition range for locking of semiconductor lasers in 0.13m
CMOS - In this work we introduced an electro-optical phase locked loop that can lock the frequency
and phase of a semiconductor laser to a reference laser where the semiconductor laser phase can be
controlled electronically.
A low power Ka-band (32-35GHz) receiver front-end in 0.13m SiGe BiCMOS for space
transponders - In direct-to-earth or deep space communication links, providing energy is very
expensive and therefore it is essential for the link receiver to consume very low power while
providing high sensitivity and gain. A low power mm-wave design strategy was used to
implement the integrated low-power mm-wave receiver.
A 1.8mW wideband 57dB trans-impedance amplifier in 0.13m CMOS - In multi-hundred Gb/s
parallel optical links for chip-to-chip data transfer, system components should be very low power
while occupying small chip areas. In this work, innovative circuits combined with a power optimized
design strategy was used to implement a low power trans-impedance amplifier, one of the essential
electrical blocks in a parallel optical link.
Theoretical formulation of the effect of the laser phase noise on the performance of electro-optical
phase locked loops - The formulation provides a strategy for electro-optical phase locked loop design
in presence of laser phase noise. The accuracy of the analysis was verified experimentally.
INDUSTRIAL POSITIONS
Media and Algorithm Design Engineer, MediaWorks Inc., Irvine, CA
2004 – 2005
Responsible for development of mathematical algorithms and frameworks for digital image and video
processing systems.
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Implementing new algorithm for JPEG decoder on the Tensilica processors , running on 4 processors
in parallel,
Porting Mpeg-4 video (D1 resolution) encoder to Tensilica processors and optimizing various MIPSintensive parts of Mpeg-4 decoder,
Implementing the in-loop de-blocking filter for Mpeg-4 decoder.
Founder and CTO, Pardis Bargh Co. Ltd., Tehran
1998 – 2003
Leading twelve engineers and technicians in a startup company environment. Sample projects include:
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Dual-axis inclined-orbit satellite tracking system (more than 35 units sold),
X-Y profiling machine for applying gasket adhesive to various parts of car engine,
Humidity-temperature test chamber for durability test of automobile parts,
Microprocessor based dental unit control system.
PATENTS AND PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS
Patents
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F. Aflatouni, B. Abiri, and A. Hajimiri, “Integrated light source independent linewidth reduction of
lasers,” Publication number: WO 2013/078432, May 2013.
F. Aflatouni, B. Abiri, and A. Hajimiri, “Integrated optical phased arrays,” Publication number: WO
2013/078435, May 2013.
F. Aflatouni and H. Hashemi, “A wideband tunable laser line-width reduction scheme,” Publication
number: US 2013/0215919 A1, Aug. 2013.
F. Aflatouni, B. Abiri, and A. Hajimiri, “Integrated coherent camera,” US patent pending.
F. Aflatouni, B. Abiri, and A. Hajimiri, “Optically balanced opto-electronic oscillators,” US patent
pending.
A. Hajimiri , F. Aflatouni, and B. Abiri, “Optically assisted electrical filtering and processing,” US
patent pending.
F. Aflatouni, B. Abiri, and A. Hajimiri, “Integrated amplification-free opto-electronic oscillator,” US
patent pending.
F. Aflatouni, B. Abiri, and A. Hajimiri, “Integrated optical spectrometer on silicon,” US patent
pending.
B. Abiri, F. Aflatouni, and A. Hajimiri, “Micro-opto-mechanical tunable couplers,” US patent
pending.
Peer-Reviewed Papers:
1. F. Aflatouni, B. Abiri, A. Rekhi, H. Abediasl, H. Hashemi, and A. Hajimiri, “Electronic laser phase
noise reduction,” in IEEE Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits Symposium Dig. Papers, pp. 265-268,
2013.
2. F. Aflatouni and H. Hashemi, “Wideband tunable laser phase noise reduction using single side-band
modulation in an electro-optical feed-forward scheme,” Optics Letters, vol. 37, no. 2, January 2012.
3. F. Aflatouni and H. Hashemi, “An electronically controlled optical phased array,” in IEEE
International Microwave Symposium (IMS) Dig. Papers, WEPN-6, 2012.
4. F. Aflatouni and H. Hashemi, “Light source independent linewidth reduction of lasers,” in Optical
Fiber Communication Conference (OFC) Dig. Papers, no. OW1G.6, 2012.
5. F. Aflatouni, M. Bagheri, and H. Hashemi, “Design methodology and architectures to reduce the
semiconductor laser phase noise using electrical feed-forward schemes,” IEEE Transactions on
Microwave Theory and Techniques, vol. 58, no. 11, pp. 3290-3303, November 2010.
6. F. Aflatouni and H. Hashemi,“A low power Ka-Band receiver front-end in 0.13m SiGe BiCMOS for
space transponders,” in IEEE Compound Semiconductor IC Symposium Dig. Papers, pp. 1-4, October
2009 (Recipient of the 2010 NASA Tech Award).
7. F. Aflatouni and H. Hashemi, “A 1.8mW wideband 57dB transimpedance amplifier in 0.13m
CMOS,” in IEEE Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits Symposium Dig. Papers, pp. 57-60, 2009.
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8. F. Aflatouni, O. Momeni, and H. Hashemi, “A heterodyne phase locked loop with GHz acquisition
range for coherent locking of semiconductor lasers,” in Proceedings of the IEEE Custom Integrated
Circuit Conference, pp. 463-466, September 2007.
9. M. Bagheri, F. Aflatouni, A. Imani, A. Goel, and H. Hashemi, “Semiconductor laser phase noise
cancellation using an electrical feed-forward scheme,” Optics Letters, vol. 34, no. 19, pp. 2979-2981,
October 1, 2009.
10. N. Satyan, W. Liang, F. Aflatouni, A. Yariv, A. Kewitsch, G. Rakuljic, and H. Hashemi, “Phasecontrolled apertures using heterodyne optical phase-locked loops,” IEEE Photonics Technology
Letters, vol. 20, no. 11, June 1, 2008.
11. N. Satyan, W. Liang, F. Aflatouni, A. Yariv, A. Kewitsch, G. Rakuljic, and H. Hashemi,
“Applications of optical phase locked loops in coherent beam combining,” in Proceedings of SPIE,
vol. 6873, February 2008.
12. W. Liang, N. Satyan, F. Aflatouni, A. Yariv, A. Kewitsch, G. Rakuljic, and H. Hashemi, “Coherent
beam combining with multi-level optical phase lock loops,” Journal of Optical Society of America B,
vol. 24, no. 12, pp. 2930-2939, December 2007.
13. W. Liang, N. Satyan, A. Yariv, A. Kewitsch, G. Rakuljic, F. Aflatouni, H. Hashemi, and J. Ungar,
“Coherent power combination of two master-oscillator-power-amplifier (MOPA) semiconductor
lasers using optical phase lock loops,” Optics Express, vol. 15, no. 6, pp. 3201 -3205, March 2007.
INVITED TALKS/WORKSHOPS
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Firooz Aflatouni, “Electronic & photonic, 1+1=3,”
 Invited talk at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, April 2013.
 Invited talk at UC Berkeley, March 2013
 Invited talk at University of Pennsylvania, March 2013.
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Firooz Aflatouni, “Electronic-photonic co-design: electrically assisted phase control of semiconductor
lasers,”
 Invited talk at Cornell University, March 2011.
 Invited talk at Oregon State University, April 2011.
 Invited talk at University of Southern California, September 2011.
 Invited talk at Columbia University, November 2011.
 Invited talk at University of Washington, December 2011.
 Invited talk at Arizona State University, October 2012.
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Firooz Aflatouni, “RF Assisted Absolute Phase Control of Semiconductor Lasers,” CMOS Emerging
Technologies Workshop (CMOS ET), Whistler, Canada, June 2011.
HONORS & AWARDS
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Best Ph.D. Thesis Award, Department of Electrical Engineering, USC
USC Ming Hsieh Institute Scholarship. This award is granted to the top five outstanding
senior Ph.D. students in the Electrical Engineering Department at USC.
NASA Tech Award for “Development of a Ka-band SiGe receiver front-end MMIC for
transponder applications.”
Ranked 1st, class of 1998 graduates, K.N.T University of Technology
2011
2010
2010
1998
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Best B.Sc. Thesis Award for “Design and implementation of a two-degree-of-freedom non1998
geostationary satellite tracking system,” K.N.T University of Technology
Best Performance Award for piano performance in National U18 Musical Instrument
1992
Performance Competition, Cultural Center of Austria
PERSONAL INFORMATION: US Citizen
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