RESEARCH & INNOVATION create new jobs

When Brad Kemp enrolled in Lakehead’s engineering program he never dreamed that four years later he would be working at a state-of-the-art semiconductor research laboratory in his own hometown. Today, Kemp and six other engineers and physicists – all under the age of 30 – are working with Electrical engineering professor Dr. Dimiter Alexandrov at the MEAGlow Semiconductor Research Laboratory. Their goal is to develop technology that will have many applications in the design of semiconductor devices such as energy efficient light emitting diodes (LEDs), higher efficiency solar cells, high speed transistor (field effect) devices, and semiconductor lasers based on quantum wells.

Dimiter Alexandrov is a world expert in the field of nitride semiconductors. "These advanced materials, combined with a new locally developed technology called MEAGlow (migration-enhanced afterglow), can overcome the limitations of current nitride semiconductor technologies, including a reliance on relatively high temperatures and large flows of pure ammonia, hydrogen, and other gases," he says. "MEAGlow technology is low-temperature, non-toxic, and hydrogen-free. Eliminating these materials means that production costs of devices can be cut dramatically and, in addition, novel electronic devices can be designed and produced."

The MEAGlow project has been supported by Lakehead University’s Office of Research and Economic Development and Innovation Office, as well as by the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC), FedNor, the City of Thunder Bay, and Meaglow Ltd. – an Ontario-based company established to help commercialize MEAGlow technology .

The MEAGlow project demonstrates how powerful the results can be when business, academia, and government come together to nurture ideas, says Dr. Rui Wang, Lakehead University’s Vice-President Research, Economic Development, and Innovation. "The MEAGlow reactor, with Lakehead University’s new PhD programs, puts Thunder Bay on the map as a leader in the fields of semiconductor technology and electronic devices."

MAKE A DIFFERENCE - click to donate