News: Microelectronics
20 June 2023
CGD’s CTO Florin Udrea inducted into IEEE ISPSD Hall of Fame
Cambridge GaN Devices Ltd (CGD) — which was spun out of the University of Cambridge Department of Engineering’s Electrical Power and Energy Conversion group in 2016 and designs, develops and commercializes power transistors and ICs that use GaN-on-silicon substrates — says that its co-founder & chief technology officer professor Florin Udrea was recently inducted into the IEEE ISPSD (35th International Symposium on Power Semiconductor Devices and ICs) Hall of Fame, which honours individuals who have made high-impact contributions in advancing power semiconductor technology and/or sustaining the success of ISPSD. His citation reads: “For inspiring a generation of engineers to excel in power semiconductors and his numerous contributions to the field and to ISPSD”.
Besides the Hall of Fame induction at the ISPSD 2023 in Hong Kong (28 May–1 June), Udrea was also given the awards for ‘Best Paper’ and ‘Best Poster’ for his contributions at ISPSD 2022 in Canada – the first time in the 35-year history of ISPSD when these two awards have been given to the same person.
“I am proud to join such an august and select group of illustrious and pioneering colleagues,” comments Udrea. “It is my privilege and also good fortune to be active at a time when the subject of ‘power’ has never been more relevant. By working with new WBG materials such as GaN, we can all improve efficiency and reduce our carbon footprint,” he adds.
“CGD is fortunate to have someone of his experience with power materials of many different types - silicon, silicon carbide, diamond as well as gallium nitride – as CTO, and we still benefit from the research that results from the efforts made by HVMS, the High Voltage Microelectronics and Sensors group at Cambridge University, which Florin still leads,” comments co-founder & CEO Giorgia Longobardi.
Udrea has published over 600 papers in journals and international conferences and is an inventor of 200 patents in power semiconductor devices and sensors. In 2015 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. His Best Poster award at the ISPSD 2023 conference was given for the presentation ‘The Smart ICeGaN Platform with Sensing and Protection Functions for Both Enhanced Ease of Use and Gate Reliability.’ CGD’s 650V ICeGaN GaN HEMT family is claimed to deliver industry-leading robustness, ease-of-use and maximized efficiency. ICeGaN can be used as platform technology for a wide spectrum of application ranging from power supplies in the consumer sector to converters and inverters in the industrial sector. Udrea’s Best Paper award was given for work on vertical silicon carbide (SiC) FinFET devices undertaken at the University of Cambridge, in collaboration with Japan-based Misrise Technologies and University of Kyoto.
CGD launches second series of ICeGaN 650V HEMTs
