Dr. Can Bayram (Resume, CV) is a Professor and an Intel Alumni Endowed Faculty Scholar in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and a resident faculty at the Nick Holonyak, Jr Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA.
In all aspects of modern life, we utilize semiconductor technologies. From lighting to communication and computing to transportation, we rely on semiconductors for comfort, safety, and sustainability. Prof. Bayram understands, controls, and exploits semiconductor technologies and creates an innovative research and education platform considering the needs not only of the current generation, but also of the next.
Dr. Bayram is the recipient of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics Young Scientist Medal, the IEEE Nanotechnology Council Early Career Award, the IEEE Electron Devices Society Early Career Award, NSF CAREER & AFOSR Young Investigator Awards amongst many other (inter)national awards. He is an SPIE Fellow.
Select Scientific Contributions
Revealing the “Efficiency Cliff” in submicron scaling of light emitting diodes, i.e. lateral carrier diffusion identified as the dominant cause for surface recombination/leakage in submicron LEDs. Appl. Phys. Lett. 126, 242101 (2025).
Record >545V/ns slew rate in photoconductive semiconductor switches (PCSS), i.e. record-breaking voltage/current handling and slew rates, efficiency, and reliability simultaneously achieved in diamond PCSS. Appl. Phys. Lett. 126, 152105 (2025). Appl. Phys. Lett. 128 (12), 123301 (2026).
Inventing “buried channel” concept in photoconductive semiconductor switches, i.e. solving traditional power handling – speed tradeoff in photoconductive semiconductor switches for electricity grid protection and resilience. IEEE Electron Device Lett. 45 (6) 1044 (2024).
First field-plate technology in diamond electronics, i.e. innovative lateral architecture with highly conductive contact regrowth approach and field-plate edge termination technique. IEEE Electron Device Lett. 44 (10) 1692 (2023).
Discovering Aspect Ratio phase Trapping (ARpT) material synthesis technique, i.e. invention and scaling of U-groove aspect ratio silicon patterning for phase-transition III-nitride material synthesis. Adv. Funct. Mater. 24 (28) 4492 (2014). Appl. Phys. Lett. 109, 042103 (2016). ACS Photonics 5 (3), 955–963 (2018). Appl. Phys. Lett. 121, 032101 (2022). Appl. Phys. Lett. 124, 011101 (2024).
Solving the efficiency droop in III-nitride LEDs, i.e. demystifying the efficiency droop contributors in III-nitride LEDs. J. Appl. Phys. 131, 193102 (2022). IEEE J. of Quantum Electron. 58 (1), 1-9 (2022). IEEE Trans. Electron Devices 69(6), 3240-3245 (2022). J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 40(5), 1017-1023 (2023). Appl. Phys. Lett. 126, 211103 (2025).
Revealing cubic III-nitride semiconductor properties. Sci. Rep. 9:6583 (2019). ACS Omega 5, 3917 (2020). Comp. Mater. Sci. 190, 110283 (2021).
GaN on 200 mm Si, i.e. direct integration of photonic and electronic devices on Si. Sci. Rep. 6: 37588 (2016). IEEE Electron Device Lett. 38 (8) 1094 (2017). AIP Advances 9, 025306 (2019).
Discovering quasi-van der Waals (a.k.a. remote) epitaxy and enablement of 3D/2D heterostructures, i.e. first 3D compound semiconductor direct epitaxy integration on a 2D one (i.e., GaN on graphene). Invented the missing link in epitaxy technology at the intersection of 3D-on-3D conventional and 2D-on-2D van der Waals epitaxy. Nat. Comm. 5: 4836 (2014).
First reliable resonant tunneling in GaN heterostructures, i.e. first reliable and reproducible negative differential resistance via defect reduction, elimination of polarization-fields, and reduction of Al-content. Appl. Phys. Lett. 96, 042103 (2010). Appl. Phys. Lett. 97, 092104 (2010). Appl. Phys. Lett. 97, 181109 (2010).
First ZnO atop InGaN-based high spectral quality visible LEDs, i.e. first use of ZnO in visible LEDs & first inverted LED. Appl. Phys. Lett. 93, 081111 (2008).
Select Honors
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WORLD-WIDE RECOGNITION |
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NATION-WIDE RECOGNITION |
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NATION-WIDE RECOGNITION |
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NATION-WIDE RECOGNITION |
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WORLD-WIDE RECOGNITION Young Scientist Medal Awarded annually to one in the world by the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) |
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WORLD-WIDE RECOGNITION IEEE Nanotechnology Council Early Career Award Awarded annually to one in the world by the IEEE Nanotechnology Council |
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NATION-WIDE RECOGNITION NSF CAREER Award Awarded to 156 scientists amongst > 3,050 applicants (success rate of ~5%) in the U.S. by the National Science Foundation |
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NATION-WIDE RECOGNITION AFOSR Young Investigator Award Awarded to 56 scientists amongst > 265 applicants (success rate of ~20%) in the U.S. by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research |
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WORLD-WIDE RECOGNITION IEEE Electron Devices Society Early Career Award Awarded annually to one in the world by the IEEE Electron Devices Society |
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WORLD-WIDE RECOGNITION |
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NATION-WIDE RECOGNITION Link Foundation Energy Fellowship Awarded annually to three in the U.S. and Canada by the Link Foundation |
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WORLD-WIDE RECOGNITION Boeing Engineering Student of the Year Awarded annually to one in the world by the Boeing Company |
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WORLD-WIDE RECOGNITION Dow Sustainability Innovation Award Awarded by the Dow Chemical Company |
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WORLD-WIDE RECOGNITION IEEE Electron Devices Society PhD Fellowship Awarded to three in the world – one in the nation – by the IEEE Electron Devices Society |
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WORLD-WIDE RECOGNITION IEEE Photonics Society Graduate Student Fellowship Awarded to twelve in the world – seven in the nation – by the IEEE Photonics Society |
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WORLD-WIDE RECOGNITION SPIE Laser Technology, Engineering and Applications Scholarship Awarded to one in the world by the SPIE Society |
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WORLD-WIDE RECOGNITION Ludo Frevel Crystallography Scholarship Awarded to ten in the world by the International Centre for Diffraction Data (ICDD) |