Disinfecting a room with just the click of a button would be a dream come true for medical professionals, scientists and even homeowners. But that technology isn’t just a fantasy: it’s currently being developed by UCF researcher Leland Nordin.

Nordin, an assistant professor of materials science and engineering, is leading a project to develop a compact semiconductor light source for defense and civilian applications such as room disinfection. The work is funded through a new, $1 million grant from the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Army Research Laboratory.

The laser device would operate at the ultraviolet C (UVC) wavelength, which is the shortest of all forms of UV light.

“UVC is part of the UV spectrum,” Nordin says. “When we talk about UV, we talk about what hurts us from the sun – UVA and UVB. UVC has the shortest wavelength and the highest energy. The reason why it’s useful is because, unlike longer wavelengths, it doesn’t penetrate the skin deeply, but it does provide disinfection and virus protection.”

The drawback to UVC semiconductor lasers is their short lifespan. They can last one hour at best, making their use impractical and costly. Nordin plans to develop a UVC laser that can last for at least 10,000 hours by overcoming the electromigration of defects, which can cut the life of a laser short.

“What that means is that while making lasers through crystal growth, defects can occur,” Nordin says. “There can be an atom missing or an extra atom generated.”

To optimize the laser’s performance, Nordin will employ a suite of novel growth approaches, including the use of digital alloys. These superlattice structures can be easily scaled, offer superior transport properties, and have high thermal conductivity, among other benefits. The end result is a more powerful UVC laser with fewer defects and a longer lifespan.

The Army could use these UVC laser for non-line-of-sight communication and the detection of chemical or biological weapons and explosives. There also are other applications for these lasers. Hospitals could use them to remove viruses from surfaces simultaneously, while wastewater treatment plants could use them to sterilize water. Homeowners could someday benefit from this technology as well.

“Imagine this technology being connected with smart home technology,” Nordin says. “You could click a button and while you’re out, the technology could disinfect the room for you.”

Nordin’s co-PI on the project is UCF materials science researcher Leo Schowalter, who co-created the first UVC laser with Nobel Prize winner Hiroshi Amano at Nagoya University in 2019. They look forward to building a bigger semiconductor ecosystem in Florida and are eager to collaborate with faculty from the University of Florida who are already working on semiconductors with researchers from the Florida Semiconductor Institute. Nordin says this project provides a chance to develop the semiconductor workforce in Florida, and to foster the spirit of collaboration that UCF is known for.

“UCF supports industry partnerships, and this pairs well with those efforts,” Nordin says. It demonstrates the level of partnership that UCF is so eager and interested to do.”

Researchers’ Credentials:

Nordin is an assistant professor in the Departments of Materials Science and Engineering and holds a joint appointment with CREOL, the College of Optics and Photonics. His cutting-edge research focuses on next-generation semiconductor materials and devices, covering design, growth, fabrication and characterization. Prior to UCF, Nordin was a postdoctoral research fellow at Stanford University’s  Geballe Lab for Advanced Materials. He earned his doctoral and master’s degrees in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.

Schowalter is the chief technology officer for Lit Thinking and a research adjunct professor at UCF. After receiving his doctoral degree in physics from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Schowalter worked at the GE Global Research Center and at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. In 1997, he co-founded Crystal IS, a manufacturer of high-performance LEDs for disinfection and instrumentation applications. Schowalter is also a designated professor at Nagoya University.