Eric J. Miller

7394 Canyon Breeze Road

San Diego, CA  92126

Phone: (858) 547-0277

E-mail: ejmiller@ucsd.edu

 

SUMMARY


Creative electrical engineer with excellent experimental, programming, and analytical skills.  Six years of experience investigating the GaN material system through theoretical modeling, electrical and scanning probe characterization, and device simulation.

CAREER OBJECTIVE


A full-time research-oriented engineering position in an environment that encourages innovative thinking, respects and acknowledges hard work, recognizes maturity and integrity, and rewards bottom-line achievement.

RELEVANT SKILLS

·         Extensive knowledge of materials science and solid state physics – especially the GaN material system

·         Ability to conceive of an experiment or process to meet a specific goal and follow through to its completion no matter what obstacles or difficulties arise

·         Expertise in experimental setup and data acquisition using Labview

·         Proficiency in data analysis and modeling

·         Capacity to clearly express ideas and results to audiences with a wide range of backgrounds

·         Substantial experience investigating material properties through electrical and scanning probe analysis

·         Familiarity with semiconductor device fabrication and novel process development.

·         Ability to program in wide variety of languages (primarily: C/C++, Labview, Perl, PHP, JavaScript, FORTRAN)

·         Comfortable using Windows and UNIX operating systems

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

 

6/2003 - present

Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, San Diego, CA

Studying reverse-bias leakage current mechanisms in MBE-grown GaN devices

7/1997 - 6/2003

Graduate Student Researcher, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, San Diego, CA

Investigated the influence of materials properties on device design and performance in Group III-Nitride alloys

6/1996 - 9/1996

Research Assistant, Department of Physics, University of California, San Diego, CA

Designed and implemented a digital memory circuit for biophysics x-ray crystallography experiments

6/1995 - 9/1995

Research Assistant, Department of Physics, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN

Devised and fabricated experimental components for nuclear physics experiments and developed a data analysis program to interpret experimental results

EDUCATION

 

06/2003

Ph.D. Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, San Diego, CA

06/1999

M.S. Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, San Diego, CA

05/1997

B.S. Physics, Magna Cum Laude, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN

05/1993

Valedictorian, Nazareth Academy High School, La Grange Park, IL

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS

·         First experimental measurement of the polarization charge in the AlGaN/GaN system utilizing a technique based on capacitance-voltage carrier profiling.

·         Development of a surface treatment which significantly reduces the leakage current in electrical devices fabricated on GaN grown by molecular beam epitaxy.

·         Identification of the physical origins responsible for lateral threshold voltage variations in AlGaN/GaN heterostructure field-effect transistors using a scanning capacitance microscope.

MEMBERSHIPS

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Materials Research Society (MRS)

PUBLICATIONS

N.I. Kaloskamis, A. Garcia, S.E. Darden, E. Miller, W. Haeberli, P.A. Quin, B.P. Schwartz, E. Yacoub, and E.G. Adelberger,  “Isospin mixing in 37K and spin decomposition of Gamow-Teller strength in 37Ca decay”, Phys. Rev. C 55, 640 (1997).

E.J. Miller, X.Z. Dang, and E.T. Yu, “Trap characterization by gate-drain conductance and capacitance dispersion studies of an AlGaN/GaN heterostructure field-effect transistor”, J. Appl. Phys. 87, 8070 (2000).

E.J. Miller, X.Z. Dang, and E.T. Yu, “Gate leakage current mechanisms in AlGaN/GaN heterostructure field-effect transistors”, J. Appl. Phys. 88, 5951 (2000).

D. M. Schaadt, E. J. Miller, E. T. Yu, and J. M. Redwing, “Lateral variations in threshold voltage of an AlxGa1-xN/GaN heterostructure field-effect transistor measured by local dC/dV spectroscopy”, Appl. Phys. Lett. 78, 88 (2001).

D. M. Schaadt, E. J. Miller, E. T. Yu, and J. M. Redwing, “Quantitative analysis of nanoscale electronic properties in an AlxGa1-xN/GaN heterostructure field-effect transistor structure”, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 19, 1671 (2001).

E. J. Miller and E. T. Yu, “Influence of the dipole interaction energy on clustering in InxGa1-xN alloys”, Appl. Phys. Lett. 78, 2303 (2001).

E. J. Miller, E. T. Yu, C. Poblenz, C. Elsass, and J. S. Speck, “Direct measurement of the polarization charge in AlGaN/GaN heterostructures using capacitance-voltage carrier profiling”, Appl. Phys. Lett. 80, 3551 (2002).

E. J. Miller, D. M. Schaadt, E. T. Yu, C. Poblenz, C. Elsass, and J. S. Speck, “Reduction of reverse-bias leakage current in Schottky diodes on GaN grown by molecular-beam epitaxy using surface modification with an atomic force microscope”, J. Appl. Phys. 91, 9821 (2002).

E. J. Miller, D. M. Schaadt, E. T. Yu, P. Waltereit, C. Poblenz, and J. S. Speck, “Reverse-bias leakage current reduction in GaN Schottky diodes by electrochemical surface treatment”, Appl. Phys. Lett. 82, 1293 (2003).

E. J. Miller, D. M. Schaadt, E. T. Yu, X. L. Sun, L. J. Brillson, P. Waltereit, and J. S. Speck, “Origin and microscopic mechanism for suppression of leakage currents in Schottky contacts to GaN grown by molecular-beam epitaxy”, submitted to J. Appl. Phys. (July 2003).

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

E. T. Yu, K. V. Smith, X. Z. Dang, E. J. Miller, and D. M. Schaadt, “Characterization of nanoscale electronic properties in nitride semiconductors”, 27th International Symposium on Compound Semiconductors, Monterey, CA (2000).

D. M. Schaadt, E. J. Miller, E. T. Yu, and J. M. Redwing, “Scanning capacitance spectroscopy and quantitative analysis of lateral threshold voltage variations in an AlxGa1-xN/GaN heterostructure field-effect transistor”, 28th Conference on the Physics and Chemistry of Semiconductor Interfaces, Lake Buena Vista, FL (2001).

E. J. Miller and E. T. Yu, “Influence of the dipole interaction energy on clustering in InGaN”, Materials Research Society Spring Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2001).

E. J. Miller, D. M. Schaadt, E. T. Yu, C. Poblenz, C. R. Elsass, P. Waltereit, and J. S. Speck, “Characterization and local passivation of reverse-bias leakage paths in an AlGaN/GaN heterostructure”, Materials Research Society Fall Meeting, Boston, MA (2001).

E. J. Miller and E. T. Yu, “Measurement of the polarization charge in AlGaN/GaN heterostructures using C-V carrier profiling”, 29th Conference on the Physics and Chemistry of Semiconductor Interfaces, Santa Fe, NM (2002).

E. J. Miller, D. M. Schaadt, C. W. McKinney, E. T. Yu, C. Poblenz, P. Waltereit, and J. S. Speck, “Reverse-bias leakage current reduction in GaN Schottky diodes by surface modification with an atomic force microscope”, Electronic Materials Conference, Santa Barbara, CA (2002).