Yuping Zeng
University of Delaware, DE·Engineering·Early-career
Smartphones, 5G networks, electric cars and the power grid all depend on chips that switch signals quickly and handle high power efficiently. Silicon is reaching its limits for some of these jobs.
- Fields
Engineering
Materials Science
Physics
- Topics
gallium nitride
GaN-on-Si
high electron mobility transistor
- Grants
- 2 known grants, through Jul 2028
What they work on
- Find the material, surface and interface causes that make GaN-on-Si high electron mobility transistors perform worse than GaN-on-SiC devices, by linking fabrication process steps to measured device performance.
- Develop a self-aligned T-shaped gate process in which the T-foot shortens the gate and reduces parasitic capacitance for high-frequency RF operation, and the T-head acts as a field plate that raises power handling.
- Develop gate dielectrics (insulating layers under the gate) and field-plate technology for GaN-on-Si transistors that can be extended to other power transistors.
- Build SuMMIT, a back-side integration platform for silicon photonic chips that uses through-silicon vias and direct bond interconnects to add materials normally incompatible with standard CMOS processing.
- Design both-face electrical and optical interconnects through the wafer for photonic chips, aiming for higher connection density, lower delay and lower power than wire bonding at the chip edge.
More about the research
Two projects look at how to make better chips by combining new materials with standard silicon manufacturing. One aims to improve fast, high-power transistors made from gallium nitride (GaN), a semiconductor that handles high voltage well. The other aims to make it easier to add new materials to silicon chips that carry light.
Why it matters
Lower-cost GaN-on-silicon transistors that match more expensive GaN-on-SiC devices could improve 5G base stations, data centers, electric vehicles, grid equipment and renewable-energy electronics. An easier way to add new materials to silicon photonic chips could speed up advances in light-based chips. It could also fit within existing semiconductor factories, which would help chip makers adopt it.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Kexin Li
Arizona State University Campus Immersion, AZ·Engineering
Develop a cryogenic compact model for gallium nitride high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) by extending an existing quasi-ballistic model. Capture how electron transport, self-heating and charge trapping change as temperature drops.
Elaheh Ahmadi
University of California-Los Angeles, CA·Engineering·Early-career
Demonstrate enhancement-mode β-Ga2O3 fin field-effect transistors with breakdown voltages beyond 3 kV, specific on-resistance under 1 milliohm-cm², and switching efficiency above 98% at 15 kHz.
Anhar Bhuiyan
University of Massachusetts-Lowell, MA·Engineering
Establish a low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) growth platform that produces thick, lightly silicon-doped β-Ga₂O₃ layers with high electron mobility and very few unwanted background charge carriers.
The school
University of Delaware: 22 labs on PI Pages, $466M a year on research, 298 research doctorates a year.
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