Paul R. Berger was born in a midwest Big Ten town, but mostly grew up in Massachusetts, specifically Andover, where he also graduated from Phillips Academy. Prof. Berger received the B.S.E. degree in engineering physics in 1985, and the M.S.E. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering in 1987 and 1990, respectively, all from the University of Michigan in the city of Ann Arbor. His Ph.D. dissertation, "Molecular Beam Epitaxy of Strained Heterostructures and their Application to Optoelectronic Devices," under Pallab K. Bhattacharya, studied molecular beam epitaxial (MBE) growth kinetics of strained III-V compound semiconductors using reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED), MBE selective area regrowth, and the application of these to monolithically integrated optoelectronics including guided-wave detectors/modulators and pin-MODFET photoreceivers.
From 1990 to 1992 he was employed as a postdoctorate, under Niloy Dutta, at Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ in the Optoelectronic Device Research Department. At Bell Laboratories, Prof. Berger continued his research on optoelectronic devices and optoelectronic integration including HBT-laser phototransmitters and p-i-n-MODFET photoreceiver arrays.
In 1992, Prof. Berger joined the University of Delaware as an Assistant Professor in Electrical Engineering. In 1997, he became an Associate Professor in the renamed Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. At Delaware, Prof. Berger worked on a variety of topics. One involved developing high gain-bandwidth product metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) photodiodes in the InP-based material system. These photo-sensitive elements could be used as building blocks for OEIC photoreceivers. Prof. Berger also explored the SiGeCSn Group IV material system for novel electronic and optoelectronic devices. The SiGeCSn alloy system allows both tensile and compressive strained layers to be grown about the lattice matching condition to Si substrates. This will allow true "bandgap engineering" for the Si microelectronics industry. Another project, in conjuction with Chemistry (Theopold) investigated CVD growth of III-V compounds with novel less-toxic organometallic precursors focusing primarily upon GaN and AlN compounds.
In 1999, Prof. Berger took a sabbatical leave while working first at the Max-Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Mainz, Germany while supported by Prof. Dr. Gerhard Wegner and then moving on to Cambridge Display Technology, Ltd., Cambridge, United Kingdom.
In the Summer of 2000, Prof. Berger joined The Ohio State University as an Associate Professor in Electrical Engineering in the Solid State Electronics and Photonics Area. In the Fall of 2001, Prof. Berger was extended a Courtesy Appointment in the OSU Physics Department. In 2003, Prof. Berger was promoted to Full Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Prof. Berger is now co-Director of the Department's 4000 sq. foot micro-fabrication cleanroom facility and has sparked a re-birth and significant growth of the current facility. A key facet of this expansion is Berger's role as Director of the Center for Nano-Fabrication that is a State of Ohio resource offering electron beam lithography (EBL) services and equipment to the scientific community. The Leica EBPG 5000+ EBL system is a multi-million dollar investment by the Ohio Board of Regents. Prof. Berger is also a key member of the Ohio State Polymer Consortium and organized the first annual meeting.
Currently, Prof. Berger is working on several research topics. Our group, in conjunction with researchers at the Naval Research Laboratory (Thompson) and Rochester Institute of Technology (Rommel/Kurinec) are developing Si-based resonant interband tunneling diodes (RITD). These RITDs, once integrated with a Si-based transistor technology, could enhance speed, reduce component count and circuit complexity and reduce power consumption. Prof. Berger is also working on quantum dot nanoswitches for beyond CMOS technology. Lastly, Prof. Berger is continuing the research begun during his sabbatical investigating conjugated polymers for electronics and optoelectronics applications and molecular electronics with quantum functional circuit elements using conjugated polymers;.
Prof. Berger is a receipient of the prestigous 1996 National Science Foundation's Faculty Early Career Development Award (CAREER), which was formerly known as the Presidential Young Investigator Award. Prof. Berger has co-authored over 70 refereed journal articles, over 70 conference presentations, 3 book sections and received 6 U. S. patents with 5 more pending. In 1990, Prof. Berger received a U. S. Army Fellowship. He was included in the 18th (1992) and 19th (1995) Editions of American Men & Women of Science, and the 1998 (4th Edition) Who's Who in Science and Engineering. He is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), IEEE Electron Devices Society (EDS), IEEE Lasers and Electro-Optics Society (LEOS), and a member of the Optical Society of America (OSA), Materials Research Society (MRS), The American Society for American Education (ASEE) and an affiliated member of the American Institute of Physics (AIP).
Return to
Paul R. Berger's Vitae page