James S. Harris, Jr.
Biography
James S. Harris is one of the world’s most prolific and influential researchers dedicated to the development and application of new semiconductor materials and nanoprocessing technologies. He has not only made breakthroughs, but he’s also been instrumental in transferring them to startup companies in which he’s involved to bring to market systems and devices that now shape the way people live their daily lives. His work with GaAs at Rockwell lifted GaAs from niche technology to a major force in today’s communications, information, and energy revolutions. His contributions to LEC bulk GaAs crystal growth and ion implan-tation were key to the development of high-speed GaAs digital ICs and the first GaAs pilot line at Rockwell. That became the base technology for Vitesse Semiconductor, whose ICs enabled TDM to become the design principle for three generations of optical networks. This powered the incredible increase in network capacity essential to today’s networks. Harris’ work on molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), Be doping, and heterojunction physics provided the foundation for the first demonstration of HBTs and their potential. Numerous companies now use MBE for their HBT production, based on the MBE technology Harris initiated. Very high Be doping enabled HBT scaling to over 300GHz and it remains a key element for the power amplifier in the mobile phones now used by practically everyone. Parallel to this work, Harris pushed major advances in the field of energy. His further development of HBT performance and the GaAs lattice-matched quinary alloy GaInNAsSb to a state that many believed impos-sible formed the foundation for Solar Junction, a company Harris co-founded. Using a Solar Junction cell, Harris and colleagues demonstrated a 33% solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency—a 50% relative increase where a 1% increase was thought significant. This makes solar-to-hydrogen generation a viable, carbon-free approach for electricity generation, energy storage, and transpor-tation. Throughout his career, Harris has made transformational contributions in the areas of science, academia, and industry, and has played a pivotal role in creating the technology-based society we enjoy today. An IEEE Life Fellow, Harris is a professor emeritus at Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.
James S. Harris, Jr. is currently the James and Ellenor Chesebrough Professor of Engineering, Professor of Applied Physics and Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Stanford University. He received the IEEE Morris N. Liebmann Memorial Award in 2000 and the 2023 IEEE Jun-ichi Nishizawa Medal.
