Elaheh Ahmadi receives CAREER Award to improve efficiency in high power electrical systems

Prof. Elaheh Ahmadi received an NSF CAREER Award to develop a novel transistor for high-power electronic applications.

The project is called, “A novel Gallium Oxide based transistor for low-waste power conversion applications.”

According to Ahmadi, “we are facing an urgent need for new device technologies to efficiently manage and distribute electrical power in the 2 kV-20 kV voltage range. The current technology, however, can no longer meet the efficiency and reliability requirements for these high-power electronic applications.”

“The proposed ultra-high voltage switch will enable efficient high-power switches in the 2 kV-20 kV voltage range, which is required in many systems, including distributed grid systems, industrial automation, electric vehicles, and electrical mass transit including high-speed trains.”

The project’s educational plan includes tutorials prepared for high school students that will be publicly available on Ahmadi’s website and on YouTube.

Ahmadi’s research interests include epitaxial growth and characterization of III-N and Oxide semiconductors for electronic and optoelectronic applications, as well as design, fabrication and characterization of novel (ultra)wide bandgap devices for high power and high frequency applications.

She has received an ONR Young Investigator Award and an AFOSR Young Investigator Program award.

The Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program “offers the National Science Foundation’s most prestigious awards in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization.” Prof. Ahmadi’s award is in the NSF Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems (ECCS)

Additional Information: NSF Post of Prof. Ahmadi’s CAREER Award