Prof. Eugene A Fitzgerald

Merton C Flemings (1951) SMA Professor of Materials Science and Engineering
CEO and Director, Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART)

Primary DLC

Department of Materials Science and Engineering

MIT Room: 13-5153

Assistant

Julia Hollingsworth
jholling@mit.edu

Areas of Interest and Expertise

Opto-Electronic and Electronic Materials
Lattice-Mismatched Semiconductor Films
Heteroepitaxial Growth of Compound Semiconductor Materials
Electronic and Opto-Electronic Integration
Relability of, and Failure Mechanisms in, Opto-Electronic and Electronic Devices
High Power Devices
Visible Lasers
Opto-Electronic Integration on Si
GeSi/Si Materials and Devices
Infrared LEDs and Laser Based on InGaAs
Semiconductor Lasers and Light Emitting Diodes, Especially Hybrid and Integrated Systems
Applications in Laser Printing and Optical Storage
Light Emitting Diode Displays
Lasers and Light Emitting Diodes for Telecommunications
Defects in Semiconductor Materials
Fabrication and Characterization of Semiconductor Devices
Novel Materials and Heterostructures
Thin Film Electronic Materials
Limitations of Electronic Materials
Visible LEDs and Lasers Based on InGaP Alloys
Infrared LEDs and Lasers Based on InGaAs
Microscipic Failure Mechanisms in Devices

Research Summary

Professor Fitzgerald's research activities attack the current limitations of electronic materials, especially limitations created by imperfections in materials such as point, line, and planar defects. Much of his efforts are focused on lattice-mismatched semiconductor systems, in which layers in electronic materials and devices have different lattice parameters. Such material combinations have potential in printing, storage, display, and interconnect applications. But the utility of these materials depends on the ability to understand and eliminate crystalline defects which can be generated due to the lattice-mismatch between semiconductor layers. Current projects involve the fabrication of GeSi/Si detectors and InGaAs/GaAs emitters which may be used in fiber-to-the-home applications; GeSi/Si structures for integrated, micromechanical devices; visible AlInGaP LEDs and lasers integrated on Si and GaP; basic studies concerning the generation, propagation, and interaction of defects in these heterostructures; and investigations of microscopic failure mechanisms in optoelectronic and electronic devices.

Recent Work