Fall 2026 Holonyak Workshop
September 10-11, 2026
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus
This in-person workshop will include invited and contributed talks on LEDs, lasers, high-speed and high-power electronics, materials growth, and heterogeneous integration.
Plenary Speakers
Abstract
The finalization of the 1.6T specifications at 224Gbps and the rapid transition to 3.2T 448Gbps specifications has required advances in test and measurement science and techniques. We will cover major measurement changes occurring at 224Gbps that have been incorporated into standards specifications as well as discuss thought leadership around what will be needed at 448Gbps and 100+GHz instrumentation.
Bio
John Calvin is a strategic planner and DataCom technology lead for Keysight Technologies. John has been bridging the measurement science gaps of emerging Telecom and DataCom development efforts for 20 years. He serves on the Ethernet Alliance board of directors and is a senior member of IEEE 802.3, OIF-CEI, InfiniBand, and PCIe development efforts. John holds a BSEE from Washington State University.
Abstract
IntelliEPI is a leading provider of epitaxial materials, enabled by a scalable, multi-wafer molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) production platform. The company serves the electronic and optoelectronic markets with epitaxial wafers based on GaAs, InP, GaSb, and III-N material systems. Key capabilities include GaAs pHEMT, InP HBT and HEMT, PIN photodetectors and electro-absorption modulators (EAMs) for AI and data center interconnect applications, avalanche photodiodes (APDs), lasers, VCSELs, infrared detector materials for focal plane array (FPA) imaging, and GaN for ohmic contact regrowth.
As data-intensive applications in communication networks demand ever higher bandwidth and capacity, the performance requirements for optoelectronic and RF devices are outpacing what current epi-tools can provide. To achieve higher power, efficiency, and speed, the epitaxial industry needs to expand its capabilities and relax restrictions to support 5G/6G, AI, and beyond.
Recent progress in MBE VCSEL and quantum dot (QD) epitaxy will be highlighted, with an emphasis on material uniformity, scalability, and device integration. The presentation will also discuss IntelliEPI’s production MBE strategy, focusing on how process design, tool configuration, inter-system linkage, cluster tool connection, and manufacturing philosophy adapt to the evolving demands of the commercial epitaxial wafer landscape. We will demonstrate how a traditional MBE chamber can be integrated with a metallization chamber and/or a hydrogen chamber for post-growth metallization and pre-growth low-temperature cleaning for regrowth, respectively.
Acknowledgment: Paul Pinsukanjana, Wei Li, Juan Li, Everett Fraser, Chen-Yu Chen, Jiayi Shao, Mukul Debnath, Joseph Middlebrooks, Kevin Vargason, and Patrick Chin.
Bio
Dr. Yung-Chung Kao is the Chairman/CEO of IntelliEPI, a leading merchant supplier of III-V compound semiconductor epitaxial materials produced by Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) technology for the electronic and optoelectronic industries. The company was founded in 1999 and is currently listed on the Taipei Exchange.
Dr. Kao has 40 years of extensive technical experience in compound semiconductor materials development and manufacturing. Previously, he was at Texas Instruments, Inc., from 1987 to 1998, where he served as a Senior Member of the Technical Staff and headed the III-V MBE group at TI Central Research Laboratory. Dr. Kao has authored or co-authored over 100 technical publications and 2 book chapters, and has been granted 13 US patents in areas ranging from MBE technology development and semiconductor materials to advanced MMIC devices. He received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from UCLA in 1987, his MSEE from Texas A&M University in 1982, and his BS in Physics from National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan, in 1978.
Abstract
The next generation of AI interconnect technologies, need to deliver the bandwidth, efficiency, and scalability that support future AI infrastructure for per-lane data rates of 200G, 400G, and 800G. Scale-up interconnects for AI are currently served by copper, but reach halves with every doubling of lane speed due to signal loss, limiting today's links to 1–2 m. TThe AttoTude scale-up interconnect extends this reach by combining RF, sub-THz, and THz ASICs with dielectric waveguides in compact, high-density cable assemblies.
Bio
Joy Laskar is co-founder and CTO of Attotude, which is developing ASIC over Dielectrics for Data Center Interconnects. A former distinguished professor, Laskar is renowned for his groundbreaking work in radio frequency electronics. His inaugural venture delivered the primary power amplifier solution for Intel’s Centrino platform. He subsequently established several companies that propelled advancements in CMOS power amplifier technology, active cable interconnects and low-power millimeter wave gigabit wireless circuits. Dr. Laskar has served in executive capacities including CTO and CEO, fostering innovation in wireless connectivity and sensor products across multiple industries. He holds 70+ patents (issued or pending) and has authored 600+ publications. Dr. Laskar is an IEEE Fellow and distinguished alumni of both his alma maters, earning a B.S. from Clemson University and Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Abstract
The rapid growth of AI infrastructure is driving unprecedented demand for high-speed optical connectivity and creating new requirements for semiconductor laser manufacturing. This talk will discuss the journey from technology innovation to high-volume production, drawing on experiences across multiple laser technologies. It will highlight the challenges and strategies required to achieve scale, performance, quality, and cost, and explore how advances in manufacturing technology, automation, data, and AI are helping enable the next generation of photonics.
Bio
Chun Lei is Group Vice President of Global Wafer Fabs at Lumentum, leading operations across the U.S., U.K., and Japan. With more than 30 years in photonics and semiconductor technology, she has worked across R&D, product and process development, technology scale-up, and high-volume manufacturing. Her career includes leadership and technical roles at Lumentum, Emcore, Intel, Finisar, and HP. She holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin.
Abstract
Following a period of intense basic research, GaAs went through a significant development phase for both electronic and optical applications. The demonstration of MESFET and HBT transistors with superior high frequency performance resulted in strong interest in the creation of optimized devices and circuits for both commercial and defense systems. Several new companies were started with private and venture capital. In addition, DARPA funded three GaAs IC pilot lines at existing aerospace companies. Vitesse Semiconductor successfully developed a volume manufacturing IC process based on enhancement and depletion mode MESFETs. The primary markets served were commercial applications in computing and communications. They became a dominant supplier of communications products by providing higher performance as compared to ECL products. This presentation will focus on the significant technical challenges involved with formulating a GaAs IC process capable of LSI/VLSI complexity products, and the competition and market conditions which impacted technology development and product strategies.
Bio
Ray Milano is an experienced technologist and entrepreneur specializing in semiconductor materials and devices, technology development from inception to proof of concept, and the transition of new technologies to volume production. His experiences span the development and commercialization of GaAs integrated circuits, high efficiency solar cells, and optical communications systems. These include the first monolithic optical receivers for the implementation of GbE data communications, thin film GaAs solar cells with record-setting efficiency of > 29%, design and construction of advanced process tools for solar cell manufacturing, and optical communications modules for 1.2Tb/s data transmission.
Ray received a PhD in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign under the supervision of Prof. Gregory Stillman.
Abstract
GaN-based light emitting diodes have revolutionized lighting and display. In this presentation we consider progress in the wall plug efficiency (WPE) ηWPE of blue, green and red LEDs. The WPE is given as the product of the light extraction efficiency ηIQE, internal quantum efficiency ηIQE, and electrical efficiency ηelec
where the “ABC” model is often used to describe the IQE, where
The internal quantum efficiency is determined by competition between radiative recombination (|B-coefficient) and nonradiative recombination. At low carrier density, namely due to Shockley-Read-Hall recombination (“A-coefficient”) at still poorly identified point defects of either intrinsic or extrinsic origin, and Auger-Meitner (A-M) three body (eeh or ehh) recombination at high carrier density (“C-coefficient). We discuss the results of differential carrier lifetime measurements on designer SQW violet, blue, and green LEDs to quantitatively determine the 𝐴, 𝐵, and 𝐶 coefficients and their surprising trend with increasing indium content in the InGaN QWs.
We present the important result of lateral injection by V-defects and their major impact on reducing the forward voltage of green, yellow and red LEDs. We discusss the importance of the junction voltage (usually close to the photon “voltage” 𝑉𝑝ℎ =ℎ𝜈𝑞) in efficiency and possible carrier overflow. Today’s SOA LEDs have junction voltages far below the diodes built-in voltage 𝑉𝐵𝐼 and thus electron or hole overflow is nearly impossible at all operating temperatures.
In this talk we highlight work on electron emission spectroscopy for the direct measurement of hot electrons resulting from eeh recombination and quantitative demonstration of the n3 dependence of the emitted electron current.
Bio
James S. Speck is a Distinguished Professor in the Materials Department at the University of California Santa Barbara. He received as Bachelors of Science and Metallurgical Engineering in 1983 and his S.M. and Sc.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1985 and 1989, respectively. He joined UCSB in 1990 as an Asst. Professor. Speck’s early work focused on epitaxial oxide films on semiconductors, ferroelectric thin films, and strain relaxation in highly misfitting epitaxial systems. He has worked extensively on the materials science of GaN and related alloys. Major aspects of his work on nitrides include elucidating basic growth modes and defect generation, the development of MBE growth of GaN, and the development of nonpolar and semipolar GaN, revealing the nonradiative processes in GaN LEDs, and a large body of early work on β-Ga2O3. He was the recipient of the Quantum Device Award from the International Symposium on Compound Semiconductors,the IEEE Photonics Society – Aron Kressel Award, and the North American MBE Conference James S. Harris award. Recently he was a recipient of a Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellow from the U.S. Department of Defense. He is an inaugural Fellow of the Materials Research Society, a Fellow of the American Physical Society, and a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors.
Confirmed Invited Speakers
Click here for full program
Can Bayram, UIUC
"VISION: Visible Interconnects for Scalable Integrated Optical Networks "
Rongming Chu, UIUC
"Gallium Nitride Electronics for Higher Voltage and Higher Temperature"
Andrew Kim, New Silicon Corp.
"Silicon’s next layer: Lightwire & the integration of compound semiconductors into silicon chips"
Paul Leisher, University of Central Florida
"Exploring the physical limitations of brightness, power, and efficiency in edge-emitting semiconductor lasers"
Di Liang, U. Michigan
"Lighting the Path to AI Computing: Heterogeneous Photonic Light Sources and Beyond"
Richard Mirin, UCSB
"Integrated Semiconductor Lasers for Quantum Systems"
Hooman Mohseni, Northwestern
"Heterogeneous Integration of Ultra-Low-Energy Optoelectronics on CMOS for Next-Generation Quantum and AI Systems"
Shubra Pasayat, U. Wisconsin
"Doping of ultrawidebandgap III-N materials with MOCVD"
Marko Radosavljević, Notre Dame
"300mm GaN MOSHEMT for RF applications"
Siddharth Rajan, Ohio State University
"Heterostructure and Device Engineering for High-Performance Ultra-Wide Bandgap AlGaN Transistors"
Hongping Zhao, Ohio State University
"Advancing Wide- and Ultra-Wide-Bandgap Semiconductors for Power, RF, and Emerging Electronics"
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Conference Committee Chair: Minjoo Larry Lee (UIUC) |
Thank you to our corporate sponsors!
Platinum
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We acknowledge the following sponsors at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
We acknowledge the Samsung Semiconductor Technology Program (SSTP) for their generous contributions to undergraduate semiconductor education at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.