Rate My Professor Francis Chi Chung Ling

Professor Francis Chi Chung Ling is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, at the University of Hong Kong. He earned his B.Sc., M.Phil., and Ph.D. from the University of Hong Kong. Ling holds the professional designations of Chartered Physicist (C.Phys.), Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (M.IEEE), and Fellow of the Institute of Physics (F.Inst.P.). He serves as the Programme Director for the MSc in the field of Physics.

Ling's research focuses on defects in semiconductors, electrical and optical properties of semiconductors, carrier transport in semiconductors, semiconductor junctions, positron annihilation spectroscopy, and deep level transient spectroscopy. His work encompasses defects characterization and engineering of functional materials, defects in semiconductors and their influence on electrical, optical, and magnetic properties, defect control at semiconductor junctions, and studies of wide band-gap materials. He utilizes techniques including deep level transient spectroscopy, temperature-dependent Hall measurements, I-V and C-V measurements, luminescence spectroscopy, and positron annihilation spectroscopy at the electron LINAC ELBE facility, Helmholtz Zentrum Dresden Rossendorf, Germany. Key publications include “Thermal evolution of defects in undoped zinc oxide grown by pulsed laser deposition” (J. Appl. Phys., 116, 033508, 2014), “Impedance analysis of secondary phases in a Co-implanted ZnO single crystal” (Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 16, 16030, 2014), “Low-threshold lasing action in an asymmetric double ZnO/ZnMgO quantum well structure” (Appl. Phys. Lett., 103, 131104, 2013), “Current transport studies of ZnO/p-Si heterostructures grown by plasma immersion ion implantation and deposition” (Appl. Phys. Lett., 88, 132104, 2006), and “Low energy electron irradiation induced deep level defects in 6H-SiC” (Phys. Rev. Lett., 92, 125504, 2004).

In recent years, Ling has advanced silicon carbide (SiC) power electronic devices by addressing atomic-scale defects affecting electrical conductivity and performance. Through collaborations with industry partners in Mainland China, his team developed an optimized annealing process that reduces leakage current by over 30 times, leading to commercial production of 20 million SiC device units valued at HKD 100 million. For this, he received the Faculty Knowledge Exchange (KE) Award 2024 and the Award for Service Contribution of Faculty of Science, HKU (2008).