John is Senior Research Scientist at The University of Sheffield, with responsibility for the growth of arsenic and phosphorus based materials. He has been active in the field of MOVPE growth for III-V material since 1981, and has contributed to the development of the technology from a small scale research activity into an important commercial route for solid-state devices. During this period he has been responsible for several important features of the modern MOVPE process, including the concept of pressure balanced vent/run operation and the method of creating oxygen free trimethylaluminium. In addition, he has developed the EpiCat method of removing ammonia from the exhaust stream of the MOVPE reactors used for GaN growth. These interactions have resulted in consultancies and product licensing agreements with Epichem Ltd., Thomas Swan Scientific Equipment Ltd., EMF Ltd. (board member) and MR Semicon (Cambridge).
John’s background is in Chemistry, and he has built a strong understanding of the key features of solid state physics, in order to understand the operation of device structures fabricated within the Sheffield National Centre. He is in the unique position of being able to interact with both MOVPE precursor manufactures and III-V device engineers, particularly in the field of III-V solar-cells. Prior to moving to Sheffield John had spent five years at Philips research laboratories at Redhill developing MBE growth for GaInP/GaAs structures.
John has contributed to over 200 papers and had publications in 10 of the 13 ICMOVPE international conferences, since this series was started in 1981.