Widebandgap Semiconductors & Circuits

Our Research is aimed at developing a new generation of microwave electronic devices based on Gallium Nitride (GaN), an emerging wide band-gap semiconductor material. GaN devices promise high speed performance similar to GaAs, but with dramatically higher breakdown voltages and power handling capacity. GaN devices have been demonstrated at UCSB with power densities greater than twenty times that of GaAs, and further improvements in materials quality could increase that factor further. Progress has been extremely rapid. The GaN research efforts at UCSB spans materials growth through device fabrication to circuit design and development, and involves a large number of student in the ECE and Materials departments. Research under Professor York is primarily in the area of device and circuit design. We have developed a full GaN MMIC process and implemented LNAs, oscillators, and power-amplifiers. Historically we also implemented hybrid wideband power amplifiers using a flip-chip approach onto thin-film ceramic (AlN) coplanar waveguide circuits. Efforts are now underway to extend this work to other functionality for low-noise and high-speed microwave electronics, possibly incorporating thin-film ferroelectrics for enhanced performance.

Research Focus

Project Descriptions

Additional Information

Some Relevant UCSB Theses