GaN & Wide-Bandgap Semiconductor Devices
Handel made pioneering contributions to understanding and optimizing noise, reliability, and performance in GaN-based heterostructure devices, particularly High Electron Mobility Field Effect Transistors (HEMTs/HFETs) for RF power amplifiers and high-frequency electronics. Through extensive collaborations with Hadis Morkoç and others from 2000-2013, Handel developed comprehensive theoretical frameworks for piezoelectric quantum 1/f noise in GaN/AlGaN heterostructures, showing how strain-induced polarization fields and crystal structure uniquely affect noise generation in nitride semiconductors.
His research fundamentally changed GaN device development by establishing that 1/f noise measurements serve as diagnostic windows into device stability and reliability, enabling non-destructive prediction of degradation and failure modes. This work provided the theoretical foundation for optimizing device geometry, material quality, and operating conditions to minimize phase noise in oscillators and maximize sensitivity in detectors, directly enabling the revolution in GaN-based power amplifiers, radar systems, and 5G wireless infrastructure.