Semiconductor devices and materials play a vital role in clean technology. They enable renewable energy sources, improve energy efficiency, and make the electric grid more intelligent. However, conventional silicon-based technology is beginning to show its limitations.
Drawing on his experience at the cutting-edge of new materials science, device design, and fabrication, University at Albany Associate Professor Woongje Sung developed a next-generation power semiconductor technology that is based on silicon carbide (SiC). Compared to legacy silicon technology, SiC has a wider band gap within the material that allows it to withstand higher voltages and operate at higher temperatures and frequencies.
At the core of Sung’s technology is an innovative design that can be fabricated using conventional semiconductor manufacturing and packaging techniques. Sung, who is a co-founder of NoMIS Power, was awarded a SUNY TAF investment to further validate and verify the technology that aims to allow SiC to be used more broadly for high-power applications, such as electric vehicles.
Established in 2020, NoMIS Power has received state and federal government support to advance and commercialize SiC-based applications. The team at NoMIS Power is passionate about applying engineering, physics and materials science to protect the environment and looks forward to commercializing this technology in order to provide power electronic device original equipment manufacturers with more efficient and rugged power semiconductor device components.
Dr. Adam Morgan, a research scientist at UAlbany in the Center for Advanced Semiconductor Power Electronics Research (CASPER), explains the work led by Professor Sung to us in the video below.
