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Media Contacts: Dr. Jayant "Jay" Baliga, 919/515-6169 or [email protected]
Kevin Potter, News Services, 919/515-3470 or [email protected]
June 3, 1999
NC State Engineer's Electronics Innovations Heading to Market
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
A North Carolina State University engineer has developed technology that could translate into more efficient battery use and more compact design for cell phones, laptop computers and other portable electronic devices. Now that Dr. Jayant "Jay" Baliga is taking those innovations directly to the marketplace, consumers could see advances within a year.
Dr. Jayant "Jay" Baliga, Distinguished University Professor of Electrical Engineering and director of the Power Semiconductor Research Center at NC State, has formed a company -- based on funding from the Centennial Venture Partners capital fund -- to commercialize many of his recent semiconductor inventions, including those targeting small electronic devices.
That company, called Giant Semiconductor Corp., will be located on NC State's Centennial Campus in the Venture Center II building, which is currently under construction. Giant Semiconductor has licensed 40 of Baliga's patents, which stem from a wide range of semiconductor innovations he's developed since becoming an NC State faculty member in 1988.
Initially, Baliga is focusing on a technology that should result in a dramatic improvement in the way electricity is distributed from a portable device's power source -- its battery -- to applications within the device -- such as the cell phone ringer or the laptop's screen.
This innovation -- based on "drift region engineering" -- would replace two technologies developed 30 years ago: the Schottky rectifier, which is a diode used to direct the flow of electricity, and a power MOSFET (metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor), which switches the current off and on. The market for these technologies is $3.5 billion a year, Baliga says.
Baliga describes his inventions as "clever physics." They could result in a twofold improvement in battery life. And, because drift region engineering doesn't generate heat the way existing technology does (requiring more space between components), it will allow for the design of more compact devices.
"These are the key defining factors for people manufacturing cell phones and laptop computers," Baliga says. "There is a demand for this technology. We think it will be very quickly adapted."
Because the new technology doesn't involve new materials and fabrication processes, the proposed products can be manufactured in existing semiconductor plants. Further, the proposed devices can be inserted in place of currently used devices. "It's a real plus that this technology can replace the existing technology without the entire redesign of portable appliances to get the improved performance," Baliga says. "This makes the technology eminently marketable. Certainly, there's a strong market pull for this kind of idea."
Baliga has created Micro-Ohm, a fully owned subsidiary of Giant Semiconductor, to commercialize devices based on his recent drift region engineering advances. When he commercializes other semiconductor innovations -- such as chips based on new materials -- he will form other subsidiaries for those. "There's a gap between research and the market, and that's what we're going to fill with Giant Semiconductor," he says.
Already, Baliga is in negotiations with a chip manufacturer that would make and market devices containing the drift region engineering technology. He says the new technology should be on the market within a year. Farther down the road, it could lead to the development of smaller portable devices that don't currently exist. "The need for my chips is only going to grow," Baliga predicts.
Baliga has previous experience with developing dramatic semiconductor innovations that race to the market. While working for General Electric during the 1970s, Baliga invented the insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT), a tiny switch that regulates power flow in washing machines, the motors that control anti-lock brakes, computers and medical equipment. The IGBT led to the recent development of lightweight, portable defibrillators for treating heart attack victims, which the American Medical Association predicts will save 100,000 lives per year in the United States.
NC State Chancellor Marye Anne Fox says Baliga's work represents the mission of the university's Centennial Campus, which aims to help bridge the chasm between university-based research and the commercial use of such scientific advancements. "Jay is a very productive person who has embodied what NC State is looking for in technology transfer," Fox says. "He has a determination to work with students, and a determination to effect technology transfer for the economic development of the state."
As he works to commercialize his innovations, Baliga will continue to teach an undergraduate electrical engineering course at NC State each semester, and he will continue his research at the Power Semiconductor Research Center. Regarded as the world's leading expert on power semiconductor devices, Baliga has 98 patents to his name, with several others pending. He has written more than 500 scientific publications and 10 books, including the textbook on power semiconductor devices used at most universities in the United States, Europe, India and Japan. He has supervised 17 master's and 22 doctoral students over the past 10 years at NC State.
He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and was the 1998 recipient of the O. Max Gardner Award, the highest faculty honor bestowed by the 16-campus University of North Carolina system. In 1997, Scientific American listed him as one of eight heroes of the semiconductor revolution, together with Nobel Laureates William Shockley, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain.
-- potter --
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