Wisconsin Center for Semiconductor Thermal Photonics

Principal Investigator: Mikhail Kats, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering

Co-Principal Investigators:

Victor Brar, assistant professor of physics

Jennifer Choy, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering and affiliate of engineering physics

Zongfu Yu, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering

Dakotah Thompson, assistant professor of mechanical engineering

Eric Tervo, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering

Semiconductor technology is the enabler of modern electronics, with semiconductor devices used to control electrons to create memory chips, microprocessors, and other staples of modern technology. Semiconductors have also become a key part of optics and optoelectronics, where laser diodes, light emitting diodes (LEDs), photodiodes, and others can be found in nearly every advanced consumer good.

This project will seed the Wisconsin Center for Semiconductor Thermal Photonics, which will explore fundamental science at the intersection of semiconductor technology and radiative heat transfer. This cross-disciplinary center will explore thermal radiation in unconventional semiconductor materials, in nanostructures, and in extreme conditions, and achieve control of the directionality and timing of radiative heat transfer at unprecedented scales. New technologies will emerge from these fundamental studies, including low-cost spectrometers, imaging and ranging, and energy harvesting and active cooling.