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In the Research Laboratory of Electronics (RLE) at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), interdisciplinary
interaction characterizes both daily activities and
the long-range direction of research. A tension between
individual focus and intergroup collaborations leads
to highly specialized strengths as well as collective
efforts that arise from the mutual interest of many
investigators.
 Research
at RLE often involves developing innovative technological
tools to reveal new insights into the physical world
and its abstract models. The Laboratory seeks, on one
hand, to develop basic understanding and intellectual
means to model complex phenomena and, on the other hand,
to create a foundation for building new high-performance
technologies which can be used to further research progress.
RLE currently pursues six major research themes.
- Circuits,
Systems, Signals and Communications. This
theme includes a complete range of activities over
all aspects of electronics, including structures,
devices, and circuits, analog and digital systems,
MEMs and bioMEMs, nanotechnologies, numerical and
computational simulation and prototyping, biologically-inspired
systems, digital signal processing, advanced telecommunications,
medical imaging, and the exploration of fundamental
issues in wireless networking and devices.
- Physical
Sciences. In this theme, an extensive range
of investigations are carried out in ultracold atoms,
quantum condensed gases, and atom optics. New methods
are being developed for manipulating and probing Bose-Einstein
condensed atomic gases and exploring ultracold interactions
and collision dynamics. Additional work focuses on
atom lasers, atom interferometry, atom waveguides,
surface physics, quantum reflection, many body physics
in lower dimensions, plasmas, and electromagnetics.
- Quantum
Computation and Communication. This area
of emphasis features efforts in quantum information
processing and transmission, with extensive new initiatives
in quantum computation, superconducting circuits and
understanding and exploiting quantum teleportation.
- Photonic
Materials Devices and Systems. This theme
includes significant efforts in integrated photonic
devices, modules and systems for applications in communications
and sensing, femtosecond optics, laser technologies,
photonic bandgap fibers and devices, materials fabrication,
laser medicine and medical imaging, and millimeter-wave
and terahertz devices.
- Nanoscale
Science and Engineering. This theme comprises
research in fabricating surface structures at nano
scales, nanomagnetics and microphotonics, periodic
structures, superconductive materials, and carbon
nanotubes.
- Multiscale
Bioengineering and Biophysics . This
theme encompasses thrusts in bio-inspired electronics
and neural prostheses; nano- and micro-technologies
for understanding and manipulating biological
processes at the cellular and molecular level;
imaging and computational modeling of disease
and neuro-anatomical processes; and communication
biophysics, including language, speech, hearing
and haptics.
Research directions are driven bottom-up by the natural
interests of individual principal investigators rather
than mandated top-down in a centralized fashion. The
Laboratory’s organization into small, discrete
groups allows rapid adaptation and recombination of
efforts to exploit new discoveries and to work with
a wide variety of collaborating investigators outside
of RLE and institutions outside of MIT.
The annual dollar volume of RLE activities is approximately
$30M. Our principal sponsors are:
The Department of Defense
(DOD).
The agencies of the DOD, which include the Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Office
of Naval Research (ONR), the Air Force Office of
Scientific Research (AFOSR),
and Army Research Office (ARO),
provide approximately 33% of the sponsored research
funding in RLE. Projects range from single investigator
grants to large, multi-investigator programs.
The National Institutes
of Health (NIH).
The NIH provide approximately 20% of RLE’s sponsored
research funding, and supports efforts in communication
biophysics, laser medicine, and neural prostheses.
The National Science
Foundation (NSF).
The NSF provides approximately 15% of the sponsored
research funding in RLE, with support ranging from single
investigator grants to the large MIT-Harvard Center
for Ultracold Atoms.
Industry.
RLE collaborations with industry in multiple application
areas support approximately 10% of the Laboratory’s
activities.
Collaborative projects
with peer non-profit institutions.
Approximately 20% of RLE’s sponsored research
funding comes in the form of collaborative agreements
with other institutions and universities, most of which
are funded by the DOD or NIH.
Remaining RLE activities are funded from other Federal
agencies, foundations, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, or by
the discretionary resources of RLE and its investigators.
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