Jiming Bao of Cullen College of Engineering, University of Houston

Cubic boron arsenide (c-BAs) is an indirect bandgap (1.82 eV) semiconductor, it has a similar band structure as silicon, but its thermal conductivity is 10 times higher and its carrier mobility is three times larger at room temperature. This suitable bandgap, simultaneous high thermal conductivity and high carrier mobility have made c-BAs a promising material for next generation electronics, especially after recent experimental verifications of these excellent thermal and electronic properties. However, many challenges still remain in order for c-BAs to realize its many promises. Besides the challenge of synthesis of uniform large size c-BAs crystals, techniques that can rapidly characterize and screen high quality c-BAs are still lacking. In this talk, I will first give a brief introduction to the history and basic properties of c-BAs, I will then explain its next-only-to-diamond high thermal conductivity. After that, I will show optical techniques that have been developed to measure thermal conductivity and carrier mobility. Finally I will show photoluminescence and Raman spectra of c-BAs, and discuss the challenges of using them to identify and characterize high quality c-BAs.

Biography:

Jiming Bao is a professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Houston. He graduated from Zhejiang University with B.S. and M.S. in Physics. He obtained his Ph.D. in Applied Physics in 2003 from the University of Michigan under Roberto Merlin; he then did post-doctoral research in Federico Capasso’s group at Harvard University before joining the University of Houston in 2008 as an assistant professor. Dr. Bao is interested in developing and understanding new nanomaterials and then exploring their novel applications in energy, optoelectronics and sensing. Dr. Bao is a Fellow of the Optical Society of America (OSA) and American Physical Society (APS).

Email:

Address:Houston, Texas, United States