Patents by Inventor Austin Minnich

Austin Minnich has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20240088283
    Abstract: A high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) including a channel; a barrier confining mobile charge carriers in the channel; a drain contact to the channel; a source contact to the channel; and a gate contact coupled to the channel and modulating a current, comprising the mobile charge carriers flowing in response to a voltage VSD applied between the source contact and the drain contact, when an RF signal electric field and DC bias electric field are applied between the gate contact and the source contact. An offset between the conduction bands of the channel and barrier is increased to a level that suppresses real space transfer noise associated with a portion of the mobile charge carriers being thermionically emitted out of the channel into the barrier when the VSD is applied, wherein the RST noise is reduced by at least a factor of two as compared to a HEMT where the alloy composition of the barrier is lattice matched.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 12, 2023
    Publication date: March 14, 2024
    Applicant: California Institute of Technology
    Inventors: Austin Minnich, Iretomiwa Esho, Bekari Gabritchidze, Kieran A. Cleary
  • Patent number: 10215447
    Abstract: A solar thermal absorber including a spectrally selective filter comprising a stack of dielectric layers and one or more semiconductor absorber layers. The dielectric layers are transparent to infrared radiation and have a refractive index contrast, and the semiconductor absorber layers have a band gap, such that the semiconductor absorber layers absorb at least a portion of the solar spectrum and the stack reflects infrared radiation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2019
    Assignee: CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
    Inventors: Nathan H. Thomas, Austin Minnich
  • Publication number: 20160320096
    Abstract: A solar thermal absorber including a spectrally selective filter comprising a stack of dielectric layers and one or more semiconductor absorber layers. The dielectric layers are transparent to infrared radiation and have a refractive index contrast, and the semiconductor absorber layers have a band gap, such that the semiconductor absorber layers absorb at least a portion of the solar spectrum and the stack reflects infrared radiation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 29, 2016
    Publication date: November 3, 2016
    Inventors: Nathan H. Thomas, Austin Minnich