 |
|
Rensselaer student invents alternative to silicon chip
May 14, 2008Troy, N.Y. - Even before Weixiao Huang received his doctorate from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, his new transistor captured the attention of some of the biggest American and Japanese automobile companies. The 2008 graduate's invention could replace one of the most common pieces of technology in the world-the silicon transistor for high-power and high-temperature electronics.
Huang, who comes from humble roots as the son of farmers in rural China, has invented a new transistor that uses a compound material known as gallium nitride (GaN), which has remarkable material properties. The new GaN transistor could reduce the power consumption and improve the efficiency of power electronics systems in everything from motor drives and hybrid vehicles to house appliances and defense equipment.
"Silicon has been the workhorse in the semiconductor industry for last two decades," Huang said. "But as power electronics get more sophisticated and require higher performing transistors, engineers have been seeking an alternative like gallium nitride-based transistors that can perform better than silicon and in extreme conditions."
Each household likely contains dozens of silicon-based electronics. An important component of each of those electronics is usually a silicon-based transistor know as a silicon metal/oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (silicon MOSFET). To convert the electric energy to other forms as required, the transistor acts as a switch, allowing or disallowing the flow of current through the device.
Huang first developed a new process that demonstrates an excellent GaN MOS (metal/oxide/GaN) interface. Engineers have known that GaN and other gallium-based materials have some extremely good electrical properties, much better than silicon. However, no useful GaN MOS transistor has been developed. Huang's innovation, the first GaN MOSFET of its kind in the world, has already shown world-record performance according to Huang. In addition, Huang has shown that his innovation can integrate several important electronic functions onto one chip like never before. "This will significantly simplify entire electronic systems," Huang said. Huang has also designed and experimentally demonstrated several new novel high-voltage MOS-gated FETs which have shown superior performance compared to silicon MOSFET in terms of lower power consumption, smaller chip size, and higher power density.
The new transistors can greatly reduce energy loss, making energy conversion more efficient. "If these new GaN transistors replaced many existing silicon MOSFETs in power electronics systems, there would be global reduction in fossil fuel consumption and pollution," Huang said.
The new GaN transistors can also allow the electronics system to operate in extremely hot, harsh, and high-power environments and even those that produce radiation. "Because it is so resilient, the device could open up the field of electronic engineering in ways that were not previously possible due to the limitations imposed by less tolerant silicon transistors," he said.
Huang has published more than 15 papers during his time as doctoral student in the Department of Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering at Rensselaer. Despite obvious difficulties, his parents worked tirelessly to give Huang the best possible educational opportunities according to Huang. And when school wasn't enough, Huang's father woke him up early every morning to practice mathematical calculations without a calculator, instilling in Huang a lifelong appreciation for basic, theoretical mathematics and sciences.
He received a bachelor's in electronics from Peking University in Beijing in 2001 and a master's in physics from Rensselaer in 2003. He will receive his doctorate from Rensselaer on May 17, 2008 and plans to work as a device engineer in the semiconductor industry.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Each household likely contains dozens of silicon-based electronics. An important component of each of those electronics is usually a silicon-based transistor know as a silicon metal/oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (silicon MOSFET). To convert the electric energy to other forms as required, the transistor acts as a switch, allowing or disallowing the flow of current through the device.
Huang first developed a new process that demonstrates an excellent GaN MOS (metal/oxide/GaN) interface. Engineers have known that GaN and other gallium-based materials have some extremely good electrical properties, much better than silicon. However, no useful GaN MOS transistor has been developed. Huang's innovation, the first GaN MOSFET of its kind in the world, has already shown world-record performance according to Huang. In addition, Huang has shown that his innovation can integrate several important electronic functions onto one chip like never before. "This will significantly simplify entire electronic systems," Huang said. Huang has also designed and experimentally demonstrated several new novel high-voltage MOS-gated FETs which have shown superior performance compared to silicon MOSFET in terms of lower power consumption, smaller chip size, and higher power density.
The new transistors can greatly reduce energy loss, making energy conversion more efficient. "If these new GaN transistors replaced many existing silicon MOSFETs in power electronics systems, there would be global reduction in fossil fuel consumption and pollution," Huang said.
The new GaN transistors can also allow the electronics system to operate in extremely hot, harsh, and high-power environments and even those that produce radiation. "Because it is so resilient, the device could open up the field of electronic engineering in ways that were not previously possible due to the limitations imposed by less tolerant silicon transistors," he said.
Huang has published more than 15 papers during his time as doctoral student in the Department of Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering at Rensselaer. Despite obvious difficulties, his parents worked tirelessly to give Huang the best possible educational opportunities according to Huang. And when school wasn't enough, Huang's father woke him up early every morning to practice mathematical calculations without a calculator, instilling in Huang a lifelong appreciation for basic, theoretical mathematics and sciences.
He received a bachelor's in electronics from Peking University in Beijing in 2001 and a master's in physics from Rensselaer in 2003. He will receive his doctorate from Rensselaer on May 17, 2008 and plans to work as a device engineer in the semiconductor industry.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Transistor Current Events and Transistor News RSSFast quantum computer building block created
The fastest quantum computer bit that exploits the main advantage of the qubit over the conventional bit has been demonstrated by researchers at University of Michigan, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory and the University of California at San Diego.
Toward plastic spin transistors
University of Utah physicists successfully controlled an electrical current using the "spin" within electrons - a step toward building an organic "spin transistor": a plastic semiconductor switch for future ultrafast computers and electronics.
A First in Integrated Nanowire Sensor Circuitry
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California at Berkeley have created the world's first all-integrated sensor circuit based on nanowire arrays, combining light sensors and electronics made of different crystalline materials. Their method can be used to reproduce numerous such devices with high uniformity.
Princeton scientists spy an electron dance
A team of scientists led by researchers from Princeton University has discovered a new way that electrons behave in materials. The discovery could lead to new kinds of electronic devices.
'Nanonet' circuits closer to making flexible electronics reality
Researchers have overcome a major obstacle in producing transistors from networks of carbon nanotubes, a technology that could make it possible to print circuits on plastic sheets for applications including flexible displays and an electronic skin to cover an entire aircraft to monitor crack formation.
Testing, radiation testing: Northwestern transistors on space station
Transistors based on a new kind of material created by Northwestern University researchers have been lifted into outer space on the space shuttle Endeavour and attached to the outside of the International Space Station for radiation testing.
Graphene used to create world's smallest transistor
Researchers have used the world's thinnest material to create the world's smallest transistor, one atom thick and ten atoms wide.
Memory in artificial atoms
Three of our nano-physicists have made a discovery that can change the way we store data on our computers. This means that in the future we can store data much faster, and more accurate. Their discovery has been published in the scientific journal Nature Physics.
Engineers make first 'active matrix' display using nanowires
Engineers have created the first "active matrix" display using a new class of transparent transistors and circuits, a step toward realizing applications such as e-paper, flexible color monitors and "heads-up" displays in car windshields.
Handheld DNA detector
A researcher at the National University at San Diego has taken a mathematical approach to a biological problem - how to design a portable DNA detector.
More Transistor Current Events and Transistor News Articles
 | Microwave Transistor Amplifiers: Analysis and Design (2nd Edition) by Guillermo Gonzalez Presents a unified treatment of the analysis and design of microwave transistor amplifiers using scattering parameters techniques. DLC: Transistor... |
 | Quantum Transport: Atom to Transistor by Supriyo Datta Including some of the most advanced concepts of non-equilibrium quantum statistical mechanics, this book presents the conceptual framework underlying the atomistic theory of matter. No prior acquaintance with quantum mechanics is assumed. Many numerical examples provide concrete illustrations, and the corresponding MATLAB codes can be downloaded from the web. Videostreamed lectures linked to... |
 | Crystal Fire: The Invention of the Transistor and the Birth of the Information Age (Sloan Technology Series) by Michael Riordan, Lillian Hoddeson On December 16, 1947, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain, physicists at Bell Laboratories, jabbed two electrodes into a sliver of germanium. The power flowing from the germanium far exceeded what went in; in that moment the transistor was invented and the Information Age was born. No other devices have been as crucial to modern life as the transistor and the microchip it spawned, but the... |
 | Operation and Modeling of the MOS Transistor by Yannis Tsividis Extensively revised and updated, this, the second edition of the highly praised text Operation and Modeling of The MOS Transistor, has become a standard in academia and industry. The book provides a thorough treatment of the MOS transistor-the key element of most modern microelectronic chips. KEY FEATURES Unified, careful treatment. The book covers in depth the development of many important... |
 | Collector's Guide to Transistor Radios: Identification and Values by Marty Bunis, Sue Bunis |
| 49 Easy Transistor Projects [ILLUSTRATED] by Robert M. Brown, Tom Kneitel | |
 | Silicon-Germanium Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors by John D. Cressler, Guofu Niu This informative, new resource presents the first comprehensive treatment of silicon-germanium heterojunction bipolar transistors (SiGe HBTs). It offers you a complete, from-the-ground-up understanding of SiGe HBT devices and technology, from a very broad perspective. The book covers motivation, history, materials, fabrication, device physics, operational principles, and circuit-level properties... |
| Transistor Basics: A Short Course by George C. Stanley | |
| Transistor Projects (volume 3) The best way to learn about electronics is to combine study with practical... | |
| Field Effect Transistor Projects |
| © 2008 BrightSurf.com |