skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Title: WIDE-BANDGAP SEMICONDUCTORS Gallium Nitride, GaN - Silicon Carbide, SiC
About the LASER-TEC Laser and Fiber Optics Educational Series This series was created for use in engineering technology programs such as electronics, photonics, laser electro-optics, etc. This series of publications has three goals in mind: 1) to create educational materials for areas of laser electro-optics technology in which no materials exist, 2) to work with industry to use, adapt, and enhance available industry-created materials, 3) to make these materials available at no cost which, in turn, would generate more accessible education to everyone (including technicians). The Laser and Fiber Optics Educational Series is available for free online at www.laser-tec.org. About Wide-Bandgap Semiconductors New semiconductors based on silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) are now commercially available, which has been instrumental in removing obstacles that legacy silicon bipolar and metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) devices could not overcome. These new devices have superior power-handling abilities due to their better thermal properties, higher switching frequencies, and lower conduction losses. Collectively, these properties make wide-bandgap devices the preferred technology for high-power conversion applications with efficiencies approaching 99%. For this reason, this new technology must be introduced to existing curricula, preparing engineers and technicians to tackle today’s and tomorrow’s power electronics challenges. This module is intended for use in technical programs after coverage of basic semiconductor theory and discrete devices such as silicon diodes, bipolar junction, field effect, and MOSFET transistors.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2000166
PAR ID:
10343252
Author(s) / Creator(s):
Date Published:
Journal Name:
WIDE-BANDGAP SEMICONDUCTORS
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. Panayiotou, Chrysanthos; Pedrotti, Leno (Ed.)
    About the LASER-TEC Laser and Fiber Optics Educational Series This series was created for use in engineering technology programs such as electronics, photonics, laser-electro-optics, and related programs. This series of publications has three goals in mind:1) to create educational materials for areas of laser electro-optics technology in which no materials exist 2) work with industry to use, adapt and enhance available industry-created material, 3) make these materials available to technicians at no cost to them making education in these areas more accessible to everyone. The Laser and Fiber Optics Educational Series is available for free online at www.laser-tec.org. About Diagnostic Applications of Lasers Diagnostic Applications of Lasers was created to provide a fundamental background for technicians on the theory of optical imaging, microscopy, and spectroscopy, as well as other major imaging modalities in medicine, (e.g. ultrasound, nuclear imaging, x-rays, and computed tomography). There are numerous examples of successful optical diagnostic technologies, such as the pulsed oximeter for the measurement of blood oxygenation levels and optical coherence tomography for diagnosis of ophthalmic diseases. Promising emerging fields are also briefly covered, such as super-resolution microscopy and photoacoustic tomography. 
    more » « less
  2. Springfield Technical Community College (STCC) offers a one-year Optics and Photonics Technology certificate and a two-year Optics and Photonics Technology Associate of Science degree. The programs give engineering technicians knowledge of lasers and optics, and provide the electronics skills needed to design, test, and maintain complex optical and photonic systems. Graduates work side by side with engineers and scientists who are involved with cutting-edge applications in a wide variety of highly technical applications. Applications include laser materials processing, fiber optic communications, precision optical manufacturing and metrology, aerospace and defense, homeland security, medical device fabrication, nanotechnology, and integrated photonic devices. As the only program of its kind in New England, STCC’s optics and photonics technology graduates are highly sought by the industry and have enjoyed excellent job placement and salaries since 1976. Companies that hire STCC graduates include MIT Lincoln Lab, Northrop Grumman, Coherent, Lumentum, TRUMPF, OFS, IPG Photonics, Convergent Photonics, Viavi Solutions, II-VI Inc., L3 Technologies, and Zygo. 
    more » « less
  3. Gallium oxide (Ga2O3) is an emerging wide bandgap semiconductor with potential applications in power electronics and high power optical systems where gallium nitride and silicon carbide have already demonstrated unique advantages compared to gallium arsenide and silicon-based devices. Establishing the stability and breakdown conditions of these next-generation materials is critical to assessing their potential performance in devices subjected to large electric fields. Here, using systematic laser damage performance tests, we establish that β-Ga2O3 has the highest lifetime optical damage performance of any conductive material measured to date, above 10 J/cm2 (1.4 GW/cm2). This has direct implications for its use as an active component in high power laser systems and may give insight into its utility for high-power switching applications. Both heteroepitaxial and bulk β-Ga2O3 samples were benchmarked against a heteroepitaxial gallium nitride sample, revealing an order of magnitude higher optical lifetime damage threshold for β-Ga2O3. Photoluminescence and Raman spectroscopy results suggest that the exceptional damage performance of β-Ga2O3 is due to lower absorptive defect concentrations and reduced epitaxial stress. 
    more » « less
  4. In 1985, Indian Hills Community College (IHCC) started classes for an associates-level degree in applied science in laser electro-optics technology. Since then, over 750 technicians have graduated from IHCC and are working in the laser/photonics industry throughout the U.S. and internationally. Companies that have hired graduates include Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos National Labs, IDEX Health & Science, Northrop Grumman, Mazak Optonics, Sightpath Medical, Texas Instruments, BAE Systems, Cymer, Medtronic, and many others. 
    more » « less
  5. Abstract Power semiconductor devices are fundamental drivers for advances in power electronics, the technology for electric energy conversion. Power devices based on wide-bandgap (WBG) and ultra-wide bandgap (UWBG) semiconductors allow for a smaller chip size, lower loss and higher frequency compared with their silicon (Si) counterparts, thus enabling a higher system efficiency and smaller form factor. Amongst the challenges for the development and deployment of WBG and UWBG devices is the efficient dissipation of heat, an unavoidable by-product of the higher power density. To mitigate the performance limitations and reliability issues caused by self-heating, thermal management is required at both device and package levels. Packaging in particular is a crucial milestone for the development of any power device technology; WBG and UWBG devices have both reached this milestone recently. This paper provides a timely review of the thermal management of WBG and UWBG power devices with an emphasis on packaged devices. Additionally, emerging UWBG devices hold good promise for high-temperature applications due to their low intrinsic carrier density and increased dopant ionization at elevated temperatures. The fulfillment of this promise in system applications, in conjunction with overcoming the thermal limitations of some UWBG materials, requires new thermal management and packaging technologies. To this end, we provide perspectives on the relevant challenges, potential solutions and research opportunities, highlighting the pressing needs for device–package electrothermal co-design and high-temperature packages that can withstand the high electric fields expected in UWBG devices. 
    more » « less