Chris Van De Walle
Professor
Materials
Research
Chris Van de Walle’s research interests lie in novel electronic materials and energy storage. He studies wide-band-gap semiconductors (III-V nitrides, II-VI compounds, and complex oxides) with applications in solid-state lighting, photovoltaics, and high-power electronics. Van de Walle investigates the interplay between structural and electronic properties of surfaces, addresses problems related to doping and defects, and investigates loss mechanisms in light emitters. Other areas of interest include the physics and chemistry of hydrogen interactions with solids, the storage, production and utilization of hydrogen (photoelectrochemical cells and fuel cells), and quantum information science.
Affiliations
Solid State Lighting & Energy Center, Member
Materials Research Laboratory, MRSEC IRG Co-Leader
Interdisciplinary Center for Wide Bandgap Semiconductors, Member
Biography
Chris Van de Walle is a Distinguished Professor of Materials and the Herbert Kroemer Chair in Materials Science. Before joining the Materials Department in 2004, Chris Van de Walle was a Principal Scientist in the Electronic Materials Laboratory at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). He was a postdoctoral scientist at the IBM T. J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, New York (1986-1988); a Senior Member of Research Staff at Philips Laboratories in Briarcliff Manor, New York (1988-1991); and an Adjunct Professor of Materials Science at Columbia University (1991). He has published over 400 research papers, holds 24 patents, and has given over 160 invited and plenary talks at international conferences.
Honors
2016 National Academy of Engineering
2015 John Bardeen Award, TMS
2013 Herbert Kroemer Chair in Materials Science
2013 Medard W. Welch Award, AVS
2011 AAAS Fellow
2011 IEEE Fellow
2010 Materials Research Society Fellow
2009 AVS Fellow
2002 David Adler Award, APS
1998 Humboldt Award for Senior US Scientist
1997 APS Fellow
Education
PhD: Electrical Engineering, Stanford University (1986)
Contact
2510 Engineering Science Building II
University of California, Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA 93106-5080