Rate My Professor Martin Kuball

Professor Martin Kuball, Diplom (Kaiserslautern), Ph.D. (Stuttgart), is Professor of Physics (Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award Holder) at the University of Bristol's School of Physics. He joined the university in 1997 and has since revolutionized the thermal management of electronics. As Director of the Center for Device Thermography and Reliability (CDTR), he leads a team of over 20 international researchers and PhD students focused on next-generation semiconductor devices for net zero emissions, communications, and radar technologies. His research specializes in thermal management, electrical performance, and reliability of novel devices using wide and ultra-wide bandgap semiconductors, including GaN, Ga₂O₃, SiC, and diamond. Key innovations include Raman thermography for high spatial resolution temperature measurements, substrate backbiasing for power electronics, and GaN-on-Diamond device technology. Kuball leads major programs such as the EPSRC Programme Grant GaN-DaME and Platform Grant MANGI, the US Department of Energy-funded Energy Frontier Research Center ULTRA, and the UKRI Innovation and Knowledge Centre REWIRE for ultrawide bandgap semiconductors. He is also co-founder of TherMap Solutions, a spin-out providing thermal conductivity measurement tools for electronics, aerospace, and nuclear applications.

Kuball holds the Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Emerging Technologies and is a Fellow of the IEEE, Materials Research Society (MRS), SPIE, Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), and Institute of Physics (IoP). His highly cited publications include 'The 2018 GaN power electronics roadmap' (2018, 1488 citations), 'Raman spectroscopy of GaN, AlGaN and AlN for process and growth monitoring/control' (2001, 529 citations), 'Measurement of temperature in active high-power AlGaN/GaN HFETs using Raman spectroscopy' (2002, 456 citations), 'Buffer design to minimize current collapse in GaN/AlGaN HFETs' (2012, 435 citations), 'Thermal boundary resistance between GaN and substrate in AlGaN/GaN electronic devices' (2007, 400 citations), and recent works like 'Double drift layers to minimize on-resistance in 2.7-kV β-Ga₂O₃ (001) vertical trench Schottky barrier diodes' (2026). With over 399 research outputs, his contributions enable high-power microwave and power electronics essential for the low carbon economy, addressing challenges like current collapse, hot electron degradation, and phonon/heat transport in diamond.