Note special time for this event: 6:00 PM
Michael G. Spencer is an electrical engineer, computer scientist and Professor of Electrical Engineering at Cornell University. He served as associate dean of research and graduate studies for the College of Engineering from 2002 to 2008 and directed the Wide Bandgap Laboratory, where he researched semiconductor materials like Silicon Carbide (SiC) and Gallium Nitride (GaN), as well as two dimensional semiconductors like graphene. He co-founded Widetronix, a company that builds low power long life betavoltaic batteries. He served as one of the directors for the National Science Foundation (NSF) Nano-Fabrication Network, and was a founder of the International Conference on Silicon Carbide and Related Materials Conference. Spencer has served on the review of manufacturing-related programs at the National Institute of Standards and Technology; the panel on sensors and electron Devices and the committee on assessment of solid state lighting for the National Research Council. Abstract. As the power requirements for electronic circuits have steadily dropped, applications for stand-alone systems have risen. Such applications include cardiac pacemakers, medical and environmental monitoring as well as anti-tampering. Implementation of these technologies requires autonomous power in the range between nanowatts and hundreds of microwatts. Beta emitters (radioisotopes which emit only electrons) are safe, have high energy density and are able to produce energy at the microwatt level with long lifetimes (10-25) years and extremely small footprints. Over the last few years, Silicon Carbide semiconductor technology has matured and large area substrates have been introduced. SiC betavoltaic devices are uniquely suited for application as radioisotope converters, and are predicted to have the highest conversion efficiencies.
Meet and Greet at 5:30 PM
Pizza with the speaker will follow the lecture
Free and open to the public