Christou Organizes Workshop on Wide Bandgap Semiconductors

Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) professor Aris Christou is the co-organizer of a forthcoming workshop, "Robust Wide Bandgap (WBG) Semiconductor Power Electronics," to be held October 23, 2012 at the A. James Clark School of Engineering's Jeong H. Kim Engineering Building. The workshop is sponsored by Argonne National Laboratory, the Center for Advanced Life Cycle Engineering (CALCE), and the University of Maryland.

Although the thermal qualities of wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductors such as silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) have been shown to make them more effective than silicon in applications ranging from transportation, lighting, communication, defense and computing to electronic components used in space, their adoption into commercial products has been limited. New and improved manufacturing techniques are required to produce these materials with increased reliability and performance and at a lower cost in order to increase their use.

The invitation-only workshop is designed to connect major stakeholders in industry, academia and government to address these challenges, which will advance the development and market penetration of WBG semiconductors.

A limited number of spaces in the workshop are still available. Those interested in participating can download a program (PDF) and should contact Professor Aris Christou (christou@umd.edu) with name, affiliation, contact information, and citizenship.

Published October 17, 2012