T. Paul Chow

Prof. T. Paul Chow received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from RPI in 1982. He was a member of the technical staff at GE Corporate Research and Development from 1977 to 1989. Since 1989, he has been with RPI, where he is now professor of the Electrical, Computer and Systems Engineering Department. He has been working in the power semiconductor device area since 1982. His present research activities include highvoltage silicon, GaAs and wide (particularly SiC and GaN) and ultra-wide (diamond and AlN) bandgap semiconductor power devices and ICs. He has published over 150 papers in scientific journals, has contributed eight chapters in technical textbooks, and has procured over fifteen patents. He is a Fellow of the IEEE.

SiC and GaN are emerging semiconductors that are expected to have major impact on the performance and efficiency of existing and future power electronics systems, such as power supplies and wind turbines. Commercialization of power transistors and diodes of these materials are well underway, but there are two competing device manufacturing approaches, the dedicated vs. shared foundry models, as well as vertical integrated vs. fabless device companies, which have been deployed. The advantages and disadvantages of each approach, based on the particular device technologies and its supply-chain ecosystem, will be comparatively discussed and evaluated.

Presentation: Commercialization of SiC and GaN Power Devices