Robert Kennedy

Background: 

     Robert Kennedy began work as an Undergraduate Research Assistant in the Silicon Carbide lab in early 2003.  Until his graduation in late 2004 he completed work in several areas of focus within the scope of Silicon Carbide research.  He built an axial surface grinder for Silicon carbide ingots.  Following this project, he began to use the X-Ray Diffractometer to determine the crystallographic orientation of single crystal SiC ingots and was the primary operator of the grinder and superabrasive wiresaw for SiC wafer production.  Later, he temporarily took over the responsibilities of wafer lapping and polishing.  Before graduating, he worked to design control hardware and software systems for the control of the lab’s newly built High Temperature Chemical Vapor Deposition Furnace (HTCVD).  After obtaining a BSEE degree from the University of South Carolina in December 2004 and entering the graduate school program, he began work with Professor Sudarshan and USC’s intellectual property office to design a novel method and apparatus for high throughput, high surface quality wafer production for extremely hard materials.

Research:

     Mr. Kennedy’s current research focus has just begun and centers on SiC MOS interfaces.