Steven P. DenBaars is a Distinguished Professor of Materials and Electrical & Computer Engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), where he also holds the Mitsubishi Chemical Chair in Solid State Lighting and Displays. He currently serves as Director of the Institute for Energy Efficiency and Executive Director of the Solid State Lighting and Energy Electronics Center (SSLEEC).
Professor DenBaars is widely recognized for his pioneering contributions to the development of high-efficiency light-emitting diodes (LEDs), MicroLEDs for data communications and display technologies, laser-based displays, and energy-efficient power electronics. His research focuses on the growth and application of wide-bandgap semiconductors, particularly gallium nitride (GaN), enabling advancements in MicroLEDs, UV LEDs, vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs), laser diodes, 5G RF electronics, and high-power electronic devices.
He earned his B.S. in Materials Engineering from the University of Arizona, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California. Prior to joining UCSB in 1991, he worked at Hewlett-Packard Optoelectronics in San Jose and Penang, Malaysia, where he developed high-brightness red LEDs.
A prolific inventor and entrepreneur, Professor DenBaars has co-founded four successful compound semiconductor companies: Nitres, Soraa, SLD Laser, and Akoustis. He holds over 150 U.S. patents and has authored more than 1,280 peer-reviewed publications, with an H-index of 158. His many honors include the 2021 ISCS Quantum Devices Award, the 2010 IEEE Photonics Society Aron Kressel Award, and election as a Fellow of the IEEE (2008). He is also a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors and a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering.
Mitsubishi Distinguished Professor, Materials
Distinguished Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering
Director of the Solid State Lighting & Energy Electronics Center
Director of the Institute of Energy Efficiency
University of California
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-5055
denbaars@engineering.ucsb.edu
Telephone: 805-893-8511