Title: Current and Future Power Semiconductor Devices
Speaker: Jerry L. Hudgins, Professor and Chair, Electrical Engineering Department, University of Nebraska
Abstract: Future silicon (Si) power devices will continue with incremental improvements in performance and reliability. As substrate material quality improves, silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitiride (GaN) devices will also increase in capability and reliability. Other material systems, from nitrides of various sorts to carbon (diamond, carbon nanotubes: CNT, and other), await continued progress in fabrication technology before any real device structures can be realized. However, it is not at all clear that the economics will favor any non-Si devices until the technology edge of this foundational electronic material truly reaches its physical limits. Extrapolations of current silicon power device technology into the future, followed by discussions of wide band gap (WBG) power devices with a focus on silicon carbide and gallium nitride and their related material defects will be provided.
Speaker Bio: Professor Hudgins is a native of West Texas. He attended Texas Tech University, in Lubbock, Texas, where he received a Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering in 1985. Dr. Hudgins served as Associate and Interim Department Chair of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of South Carolina prior to joining the University of Nebraska as Chair of the Electrical Engineering Department. Currently, he is Director of the Nebraska Wind Applications Center and Associate Director of the Nebraska Center for Energy Sciences Research. His research involves power electronic device characterization and modeling, power electronics design, and renewable energy systems. In 2000, was named as an IEEE Third Millennium Medal recipient for “Outstanding Contributions in the area of Power Electronics.” Dr. Hudgins is a Fellow of the IEEE and a member of the IEEE Board of Directors (Division II Director). Dr. Hudgins served as the President of the IEEE Power Electronics Society (PELS) for the years of 1997 and 1998 and as President of the IEEE Industry Applications Society (IAS) in 2003. Dr. Hudgins has worked with numerous industries and published over 130 technical papers, books, and book chapters concerning power semiconductors, power electronics, renewable energy systems, and engineering education.