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.
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Source:
Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute
Published on 27th May
2008
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