Elaheh Ahmadi receives DARPA Young Faculty Award to support future sensor and communication systems

Prof. Elaheh Ahmadi has been awarded a 2021 Young Faculty Award from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Her research project “GaN/ Ga₂O₃ wafer-Bonded Aperture VErtical Transistor (BAVET) for RF applications,” is expected to support future sensor and communication systems.

Ahmadi’s goal is to enable higher power RF devices with high gain and efficiency at higher voltages. She plans to combine the electronic materials benefits of GaN and Ga₂O₃ material systems with breakthrough performance.  

GaN technology has been pushing the limits of power density, reliability and gain in a reduced size. To further increase the output power in RF devices, UWBG materials have attracted interest due to their larger breakdown electric field and voltage. By integrating GaN and Ga₂O₃ at the nanoscale, she aims to combine the large breakdown field of Ga₂O₃ with high electron mobility of GaN, building on the investment in and successes of GaN transistors as RF devices.

Ahmadi’s research interests include epitaxial growth and characterization of III-N and Oxide semiconductors for electronic and optoelectronic applications, as well as design, fabrication and characterization of novel (ultra)wide bandgap devices for high power and high frequency applications.

She was recently awarded a $1 million contract from the DARPA to design a new kind of hybrid semiconductor that can overcome the limitations of traditional Gallium Nitride transistors. She has also received an ONR Young Investigator Award, an AFOSR Young Investigator Program award, and an NSF CAREER award.

About the DARPA Young Faculty Award

The objective of the DARPA Young Faculty Award (YFA) program is to identify and engage rising research stars in junior faculty positions at U.S. academic institutions. The long-term goal of the YFA program is to develop the next generation of academic scientists, engineers and mathematicians in key disciplines who will focus a significant portion of their career on DoD and national security issues.