Prof Evelyn Hu, Honorary Professor of EE and the Tarr-Coyne Professor of Applied Physics and Electrical Engineering at Harvard University, has been selected to receive the 2020 IEEE Andrew S. Grove Award. The citation for this award is “For pioneering contributions to microelectronics fabrication technologies for nanoscale and photonic devices”.
The IEEE Andrew S. Grove Award was established in 1999 and sponsored by the IEEE Electron Devices Society. It aims to recognize scholars with outstanding contributions to solid-state devices and technology. Prof Hu has been focusing on developing techniques with high spatial precision to sculpt nanostructures from solid-state materials with minimal damage. Her innovative micro- and nanofabrication technologies have enabled the continued shrinking of integrated circuits. Industrial and academic research groups use her methods to achieve nanometer-scale control over device geometries while maintaining excellent optical properties, impacting areas ranging from telecommunications to high-speed electronics. Her work has resulted in lasers with record low threshold values, single-photon sources, improved extraction of light from indium-gallium-nitride light emitting diodes (LEDs), and coupled light-matter states. The many benefits realized from her achievements include the reduction of electricity consumption by replacing traditional lighting with more efficient LED lighting as well as paving the way for quantum information processing.