MAE Seminar: Charge and Heat Transfer in Cryogenic High Electron Mobility Transistors and the Fundamental Limits of Microwave Noise Performance

Abstract: Microwave amplifiers based on cryogenic high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) are widely used in radio astronomy and quantum computing, in which the best possible noise performance is essential. Future demanding applications will require lower-noise amplifiers operating into the hundreds of GHz. The physical limitations of microwave noise performance are governed by transport phenomena of charge and heat in semiconductors. In this talk, I will describe our investigation of these transport phenomena and the fundamental limits of microwave noise performance in semiconductor devices. I will also describe our efforts to fabricate amplifiers with improved noise figure based on our findings. 

Bio: Austin Minnich is the deputy chair of the Division of Engineering and Applied Science and professor of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Physics at the California Institute of Technology. He received his bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley in 2006 and his Ph.D. from MIT in 2011, after which he started his position at Caltech. He is the recipient of a 2013 NSF CAREER Award, a 2015 ONR Young Investigator Award, a 2017 Director of Research Award from the Navy, the 2017 Junior Prize from the International Photothermal and Photoacoustics Association, the 2017 Bergles-Rohsenow Young Investigator Award and a 2019 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.