Leo Schowalter
Chief Technology Officer
Lit Thinking
Dr. Schowalter leads Lit Thinking's semiconductor research program, a key initiative in collaboration with Cornell University, Nagoya University, and the University of Central Florida. Together, they have established a critical effort focused on ultrawide bandgap, aluminum nitride semiconductors for far-UVC emitters and high-power applications. With a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Illinois, he has held significant roles, including Department Chair at RPI, co-founder of Crystal IS, and Asahi Kasei Designated Professor at Nagoya University, Japan. A pioneer in UVC technology, Dr. Schowalter continues to advance innovation in laser diodes and aluminum nitride device applications.
Presentations
The Power of Pseudomorphic Nitrides
High quality, 2-inch diameter aluminum nitride (AlN) substrates have become widely available with 100mm soon to become commercial. These substrates have enabled growth of very high-quality aluminum-gallium nitride alloys which are pseudomorphically strained to match the lattice of the underlying AlN substrate. This high quality material has allowed the development of superior performance UVC LEDs at wavelengths shorter than 275nm.. In addition, the low extended defect density has made it possible to take advantage of distributed polarization doping. Pseudomorphic growth and distributed polarization doping have made the achievement of new devices possible, such as the UVC laser diode and far UVC LEDs.