New Research in GaN Devices for Power and Energy Applications

Technical advances in power generation and conversion promise enormous energy efficiency gains with significant economic impact. The conventional devices based on Si technology (e.g., IGBT and MOSFET) suffer from high losses and low frequency, and their device performance is fundamentally limited. New devices based on wide bandgap (WBG) GaN semiconductors offer new opportunities for smaller form factor, higher power, and higher efficiency electronics, which will revolutionize the future power and energy technology. In this talk, I will first discuss the recent research of GaN vertical power devices and InGaN solar cells at ASU. For future directions, I will also discuss new WBG devices based on oxides and diamonds, and integration systems based on GaN.

Bio: Yuji Zhao is an Assistant Professor at Arizona State University (ASU) and leads the MOCVD GaN Laboratory, a multi-million-facility initiative by ASU Fulton Schools of Engineering. He received the Ph.D degree from University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) in 2012 after Nobel Laureate Professor Shuji Nakamura, and the B.S. degree from Fudan University in China in 2008. His research interests are MOCVD growth and device applications of GaN-based semiconductors including LEDs, lasers, solar cells, and power transistors. He has authored/co-authored more than 70 journal and conference publications, two book chapter, and over 10 patents. His has received the UCSB SSLEC Outstanding Research Award, SFAz Bisgrove Early Career Faculty Award, NASA Early Career Faculty Award, DTRA Young Investigator Award, and ASU Fulton Outstanding Assistant Professor Award. His work on was recognized with a Most Cited Article of the Year Award from APEX (2012), an Editor’s Pick of the Year Award from APL (2012), and was featured in over 100 international news outlets with over 5 languages, including Science, Nature Photonics, Optical Society of America (OSA), Compound Semiconductors, and Yahoo.