Who wrote this website?#

Latest Career Update:#

I have begun working at GaNify, LLC (a very exciting startup commercializing technically novel ideas for GaN in the industry) since mid February 2024. My current role at GaNify is to assist the company in solidifying a process that can be standardized for the manufacturing of a HEMT based High Voltage Super-heterojunction FET device with high voltage switching applications. Our projects are currently ARPA-E funded.

I would like to take a moment and express my gratitude for Dr. Shuji Nakamura’s kind offering to me for an undergraduate internship, giving me the necessary experience as someone with a physics background to learn about GaN-based semiconductor technology, which ultimately led to me landing this career opportunity that is as close to a PhD as one can get.

My background:#

I am a recent Physics graduate from UCSB. If I were to come up with a name for the focus of courses that I have taken, I would say Condensed Matter and Optics Applications. In my opinion, my two quarters of Condensed Matter, one quarter of Optics and one quarter of Quantum Photonics Experiment gave me a really unique perspective to pursue physical applications, with a motivation aimed towards translating scientific investigation into commercialization. I have seen this translation in the field of photonics in two separate applications, the currently-pretty-Novel Quantum Photonics Integrated Circuits (QPIC), and a Novel-30-Years-Ago Optoelectronics.

Research:#

I have one year of research experience in UV photonics in the Materials Department under the supervision of 2014 Physics Nobel Prize Winner Dr. Shuji Nakamura.

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Fig. 1 Try and find me!#

I have also previously conducted research at San Francisco State University for a mitigation lab to help develop a MATLAB program for Dr. Zhaoshuo Jiang in 2019.

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Fig. 2 Also try and find me!#

Publication:#

Please check out the three available publications that I have as a co-author here.

  • High external quantum efficiency (6.8%) UV-A LEDs on AlN templates with quantum barrier optimization

    • Authors: Yifan Yao, Hongjian Li, Michael Wang, Panpan Li, Michael Lam, Michael Iza, James Speck, Steve DenBaars, and Shuji Nakamura

    • DOI: 10.1364/OE.491622

    • The experimental HRXRD data in <105> plane generated on this paper was done by me. This also includes finding the experimental value of Al content found in this growth recipe.

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Fig. 3 Graph from 10.1364/OE.491622#

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Fig. 4 A screenshot of the XRD data I generated#

  • External Quantum Efficiency (10.6%) Germicidal UV LEDs Grown on Thin Highly Conductive n-AlGaN

    • Authors: Michael Wang, Feng Wu, Yifan Yao, Christian Zollner, Michael Iza, Michael Lam, Steven DenBaars, Shuji Nakamura, James Speck

    • DOI: 10.1063/5.0165328

  • Demonstration of III-Nitride Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers (VCSEL) with a topside dielectric curved mirror

    • Authors: Nathan Palmquist, Jared Kearns, Stephen Gee, Arturo Juan, Srinivas Gandrothula, Michael Lam, Steven P. Denbaars, Shuji Nakamura

    • DOI: 10.35848/1882-0786/ad119b

    • I have experimentally reported the RMS roughness on the DBR surface and was first to notice additional details on the DBR. They were done through the use of Atomic Force Microscope.

Outside of school:#

I have previously been a lifeguard and swim instructor both at SF Rec&Park and UCSF Aquatics, as well as a peer instructor for instructional aid at Skyline College.

At the moment, I am a gymnastics coach at Santa Barbara Gymnastics (Gym) Club teaching summer/winter camps and tumbling/gymnastics/parkour classes.

Other times I am just enjoying being in Santa Barbara, playing music and taking private lessons, writing this website, attempting here and there to improve the open source of JupyterBook Framework (in an amateur-ish fashion) and implementing MyST Markdown features onto the JupyterBook framework.