Speaker: Frank Kelly

Title: Plasma-Assisted Molecular Beam Epitaxy for the Development of GaN-Based Power Electronics

Abstract: Efficient power conversion, storage, and transfer are becoming more and more important every day with applications ranging from the grid to transportation to military use. In order to build the circuits that enable this, highly efficient power devices like diodes and transistors are integral. In this talk, the work is discussed that goes into the building of one of these such devices, the p-i-n diode. We will start with a discussion of the engineering design and physical theory of one of these diodes, then go into how they are made. The process begins with epitaxial growth enabled by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy, followed by conventional and novel semiconductor fabrication methods. Along the way, characterization methods will be outlined in order to give some scope to the work being done.