NEWS & EVENTS
Yuhao Zhang, ONR Young Investigator Award Recipient
Oct 20, 2023
CPES assistant professor Yuhao Zhang has been selected for the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Young Investigator Award where he will work on "Switching Dynamics and Reliability Physics of Multidimensional Power Devices".
The ONR Young Investigator Award is a prestigious recognition and research grant program designed to support early-career scientists, engineers, and researchers who show exceptional promise in their fields. The goal of the program is to help nurture talent, foster innovation, and advance research in areas critical to the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps' mission.
Prof. Zhang's research will contribute significantly to ONR's Power Electronics & Electromagnetism, Adaptive & Machinery Controls and Advanced Machinery Systems, led by Program Officer Dr. Lynn Petersen. For more details, see the project abstract below.
For more information about ONR Young Investigator Award Recipient's click here
Project Abstract/Summary (Approved for Public Release)
Low-cost, efficient, and reliable power devices are central to improving the power conversion efficiency in many naval applications. The performance of power device relies on both semiconductor material and device architecture. While wide-bandgap (WBG) semiconductors have improved power devices, multidimensional device architectures – such as superjunction, multi-channel and multi-gate technologies – recently rewrote the theoretical limits of WBG power devices. This project aims at probing the transient dynamics and reliability physics of multidimensional power devices under high current density, high slew rate, high electric field, and high temperature. An integrated research approach is proposed to combine multi-physics mixed-mode simulation and modeling, as well as the transformative circuit-based switching tests. Gallium nitride (GaN) multi-channel and superjunction are selected as two demonstrative vehicles, which are representatives of the lateral and vertical multidimensional devices. This project will build a knowledge base that correlates the nanoscale material/interface properties to the complex device characteristics under away-from-equilibrium, dynamic conditions.
Learn more about https://cpes.vt.edu/news/news/994
