Image shows world-renowned physicist Professor Hiroshi Amano, a Nobel Prize winner.
Charging electric cars in faster than five minutes and making the national energy grid much more efficient could be a step closer to reality thanks to a unique new partnership on track to revolutionise semiconductor microchip technologies.
Top experts from the University of Bristol, in the UK, and Nagoya University, in Japan, are working together to drive forward innovation in semiconductors, also known as microchips, and electronic devices which hold the key to reducing emissions and making energy-efficient travel more user-friendly.
World-renowned physicist Professor Hiroshi Amano, a Nobel Prize winner, will visit the University next month to share his knowledge and expertise with researchers and PhD students as part of an enterprising exchange programme to further high-efficiency power semiconductor advances.
The initiative, supported by the International Science Partnerships Fund (ISPF), will see academics from Nagoya University and the University's Centre for Device Thermography and Reliability (CDTR) join forces to develop next generation semiconductor chips, which could be used to save energy in a wide range of situations.
Centre lead Martin Kuball, Professor of Physics at the University of Bristol and a Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Emerging Technologies, said: "Imagine a world where it takes less than five minutes to charge an electric car and renewable energy sources which feed into the national grid with full efficiency.
"We are working hard to make this a reality by giving semiconductor devices more 'muscle power' and harnessing the same technology for example to reduce energy wastage while feeding wind and solar power into the national grid."
Professor Amano, who shared the 2014 Novel Prize in Physics for the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs), is now using the principles of these systems to pioneer technologies for the manufacture of high-efficiency power semiconductors and new energy-saving electronics.
His visit, on Friday 4 April, will include a talk about the opportunities and challenges for mass production of such devices, which could potentially slash total electricity consumption.
Professor Amano, Director of the Centre for Integrated Research of Future Electronics, said: "The contribution of gallium nitride (GaN) and related materials in LED lighting to energy savings is significant. The application of these material systems is not limited to lighting: replacing Si-based power devices with GaN-based power devices can reduce the total electricity consumption by 25%.
"GaN-based high-voltage power devices should become the key devices in establishing renewable-energy-based electricity grids because of their high-efficiency, high-speed switching, and high-voltage capability."
GaN is making electronics more environmentally-friendly, efficient, and smaller and will play a pivotal role in the government's National Semiconductor Strategy.
The University is hosting the £11million Innovation and Knowledge Centre (IKC) REWIRE, led by Professor Kuball, set to deliver pioneering semiconductor technologies and new electronic devices.
The centre, in partnership with the Universities of Warwick and Cambridge, will help drive forward the UK's net zero goals.
Prof Kuball said: "The University of Bristol is at the forefront of making these game-changing breakthroughs, which will help cut carbon emissions and make our energy consumption more efficient and user-friendly.
"We're delighted and honoured to welcome Professor Amano, who is globally renowned for his scientific achievements, and look forward to working together on these exciting innovations which also have highly complex challenges to overcome. I am sure staff and students will be inspired by the occasion and over the next couple of years researchers, including those at the start of their careers, will have the opportunity to visit Nagoya University in Japan to exchange important knowledge and expertise."
The ISPF is funded by the government Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and delivered in part by the British Council.
