Engineering Graduate Student Receives Best Session Presentation Award

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Barlow tested his device at high temperatures. Here it is shown working at a temperature of 455 degrees Celsius.

Matt Barlow, a doctoral student in the Department of Electrical Engineering, received a Best Session Presentation Award at the Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition, or APEC.

"APEC is considered the world's premier conference in applied power electronics," said Alan Mantooth, Distinguished Professor of electrical engineering and holder of the Twenty-First Century Research Leadership Chair. "To receive a Best Session Presentation Award at such a highly regarded conference is a significant achievement for Matt and great for our institution," said Mantooth. "These types of events enrich students and shape them to accept responsibility for future leadership roles in their profession, community, and society."

At the conference, Barlow presented research related to his doctoral dissertation. He is developing and testing a silicon carbide gate driver to drive a power transistor. Barlow's gate driver is designed be used in power electronics devices that need to operate under extreme conditions, such as in a jet engine or on the surface of the planet Venus. Barlow has successfully tested his device at temperatures up to 530 degrees Celsius.

Barlow explained that fabricating the gate driver integrated circuit out of silicon carbide allows it to withstand extreme temperatures. In addition, he has designed the gate driver to be integrated into a power module without any additional packaging. Electronic packaging refers to the extra materials that protect electrical components and connect them with other parts of a device. Because it doesn't need these extra materials, Barlow's gate driver can interact with other parts of the device more quickly and efficiently.

Barlow's project is supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation, and he used the facilities of the High Density Electronics Center to assemble his devices. Matt is advised by Mantooth. Matt Francis, president and chief executive officer of Ozark Integrated Circuits and Shamim Ahmed, a doctoral student in electrical engineering were additional co-authors and collaborators on the project. 

"This research is another key step the realization of a long-term vision we've had of creating all-silicon carbide (SiC) electronics for motor drives and power converters including power devices, gate drivers, protection circuitry and controllers,"said Mantooth. "Matt has done some outstanding research toward this objective."