Students

Research opportunities and group alumni

Students work on problems that require physical insight, numerical modeling, and substantial technical independence. Opportunities range from undergraduate Special Projects through M.S. and Ph.D. research.

Interested in joining?

Strong preparation in mathematics, physics, semiconductor devices, and scientific or object oriented programming is especially useful. Ph.D. applicants benefit from prior exposure to solid state theory and quantum mechanics; curiosity, persistence, and willingness to build original simulation tools matter just as much. M.S. and undergraduate projects can be scoped to match preparation and available time.

Ph.D.

Original research

Develop new physical models, computational methods, and device concepts with the goal of peer reviewed publication.

M.S.

Focused depth

Tackle a well defined modeling or device design problem that can grow into a thesis when appropriate.

Undergraduate

Research apprenticeship

Learn the physics and numerical methods behind a tractable research problem through Special Projects or related work.

Contact Prof. Yoder about research →

Current Ph.D. students

Hang Cui

Thesis: Theory, Simulation and Design of Bidirectional Piezo-acoustic Wurtzite III-Nitride Transistors

Asif Billah

Thesis: Electronic Structure and Charge Transport Within Deep Donor and Acceptor Impurity Bands in Ultra Wide Bandgap Semiconductors

Jonathan Sculley

Thesis: Novel Modes of Charge Transport and Charge Domain Instability, and their Application to Room Temperature Millimeter-Wave and Terahertz Signal Generation

Former Ph.D. students

Anusha Venkatachalam

Thesis: Investigation of Self Heating and Macroscopic Built-In Polarization Effects on the Performance of III-V Nitride Devices
Employer: Microchip, Inc.

Sriraaman Sridharan

Thesis: Design and Theoretical Study of Wurtzite GaN HEMTs and APDs via Electrothermal Monte Carlo Simulation
Employer: Intel Corp.

Mahbub Satter

Thesis: Design and Theoretical Study of Wurtzite III-N Deep Ultraviolet Edge Emitting Laser Diodes via Electro-optical Simulation
Employer: Intel Corp.

Karan Mehta

Thesis: Narrow Linewidth UV Laser Diodes for Atomic Clock Applications
Employer: Intel Corp.

Current M.S. students

Luigi Cedeno

Thesis: Design and Optimization of AlGaN SPADs for SPDE

Former M.S. students

Timothy Philip

Thesis: Quantum Theory of Electron Transport Across Wells and Barriers
Current: President's Graduate Research Fellow at UIUC

Margaret Fitzharris

Thesis: Intermodulation Distortion in High Speed, High Power Photodiodes
Employer: Texas Instruments

Pratyush Manocha

Research: Density Functional Calculation of Impurity States in Wide Bandgap III-Nitride Semiconductors