Hod Finkelstein

Electrical and Computer Engineering

 

Postdoctoral researcher
3317 EBU-1
University of California, San Diego
9300 Gilman Dr. La Jolla, CA, 92093
Tel: (858) 414-3581
Email: hfinkels@ucsd.edu

 

Hod investigates the physics and applications of single-photon avalanche photodiodes. In particular he is interested in utilizing existing commercial semiconductor technologies to create single-photon detectors with improved performance, in terms of timing precision, speed, spectral response, and scalability. These devices can, for the first time, be integrated on the same die with supporting analog and digital circuitry to create ultra-sensitive arrays which also provide per-pixel precise time-of-arrival information in a massively parallel manner. The devices developed will provide the central building blocks for time-correlated single photon counters, tomographic imagers, 3D camera, and detectors for communication channels utilizing single-photon transmission.

 

Hod Finkelstein received his B. Sc. in electrical engineering (with distinction) from Cornell University in 1994. He received the M. Sc. in electrical engineering from the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology in 1998. In 2007, he completed his Ph. D. in electrical engineering (photonics) at UC San Diego, where he developed and demonstrated the smallest and fastest single-photon avalanche diodes to date, using a commercial deep-submicron technology. He also invented a new single-photon frequency upconversion technique, which offers a cheap and efficient scalable upconversion method for applications ranging from deep-space communications to high-sensitivity infrared imaging. Hod also holds the International Executive MBA degree from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, and from Tel-Aviv University (2000). He is now a postdoctoral researcher at UCSD. His main interests are single-molecule imaging and biomedical imaging using single-photon detectors. In the past, Hod spent 10 years in industry, starting as a mixed-signal design engineer at Intel's Israel Design Center, continuing as Israel Country Manager for Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing (CHRT), the world’s third largest silicon foundry, and serving as Director of Manufacturing for Mellanox Technologies (MLNX) and later as Vice President for American and Chinese fabless semiconductor companies. He received numerous awards including the UCSD Jacobs School of Engineering's Outstanding Poster Award, Research Expo '07; the Powell Fellowship; and the Cornell Tradition Fellowship.

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Current Research Projects

  • Improved CMOS single-photon avalanche diodes
  • Fluorescent-probe colocalization using single-photon avalanche diodes
  • Analog circuits for in-pixel signal processing 
  • Infrared-to-visible single-photon frequency upconversion for imaging and communication
  • Photonics for fluorescence correlation spectroscopy
  • Single-photon time-correlated counting for biomedical imaging

 

Recent Publications

     Journals

  • H. Finkelstein, M. Benchimol, K. Zhao, M. J. Hsu, YH Lo, S. Esener, “Fast single-photon upconversion via hot-carrier luminescence,” in preparation.

 

  • H. Finkelstein, K. Zhang, YH Lo, S. Esener, “External electroluminescence measurements of InGaAs/InAlAs avalanche photodiodes,” accepted for publication in Applied Physics Letters.

 

  • H. Finkelstein, M. J. Hsu and S. C. Esener, “Dual-junction single-photon avalanche diode,” Electronics Letters, vol.  43, no. 22, 2007.

 

  • H. Finkelstein, M. J. Hsu, S. Zlatanovic, S. Esener, “Performance trade-offs of ultrafast single-photon avalanche photodiodes,” Review of Scientific Instruments, vol. 78, no. 10, 2007.

 

  • H. Finkelstein, M. Gross, YH Lo, S. Esener, “Analysis of hot-carrier luminescence for infrared single-photon up-conversion and readout,” to appear in IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics – Single Photon Counting: Detectors and Applications, vol. 13, no. 4, 2007.

 

  • H. Finkelstein, M. Gross, YH Lo, S. Esener, “Analysis of hot-carrier luminescence for infrared single-photon up-conversion and readout,” to appear in IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics – Single Photon Counting: Detectors and Applications, vol. 13, no. 4, 2007.

 

  • H. Finkelstein, M. J. Hsu, S. Esener, “STI-bounded single-photon avalanche diode in a deep-submicron CMOS technology”, IEEE Electron Device Letters, vol. 27, no. 11, 2006.

 

     Conferences

  • H. Finkelstein, K. Zhao, M. Gross, YH Lo, S. Esener, “Fast and power-efficient infrared single-photon upconversion using hot-carrier luminescence,” Quantum Communications and Quantum Imaging V, SPIE, San Diego, CA, 2007.

 

  • H. Finkelstein, M. J. Hsu, S. Esener, “An ultra-fast Geiger-mode single photon avalanche diode in 0.18 µm CMOS technology”, Advanced Photon Counting Techniques, SPIE Vol. 6372, Boston, MA, 2006.

 

  • H. Finkelstein, M. J. Hsu, S. Esener, “A compact single-photon avalanche diode in a deep-submicron CMOS technology”, International Conference of Solid-State Devices and Materials, Yokohama, Japan, 2006.

 

  • H. Finkelstein, P. M. Asbeck, and S. Esener, “Architecture and Analysis of a Self-Assembled 3D Array of Carbon Nanotubes and Molecular Memories”, Proceedings Third IEEE Conference on Nanotechnology, San Francisco, 2003.

 

  • H. Finkelstein, R. Ginosar, “Front-side bombarded metal plated CMOS electron sensors,. Solid State Sensor Arrays: Development and Applications II, SPIE Vol. 3301, Santa Clara, 1998.

 

  • H. Finkelstein, R. Ginosar, “Novel CMOS electron imaging sensor,. Advanced Focal Plane Arrays and Electronic Cameras II, SPIE Vol. 3410, Zurich, 1998.

     Dissertations

  • “Compact single-photon avalanche diodes using commercial deep-submicron CMOS technologies,” Ph. D. Dissertation, UCSD, 2007.

 

  • H. Finkelstein, “Frontside bombarded metal plated electron radiation imaging chip fabricated in CMOS technology”, Master’s Thesis, Technion, Israel, 1998.